Finite
by irite
Summary: Everything has limits; that is, it's finite. Thor has a thing for scientists, and Bruce is tired of running. When Loki's not the bad guy they thought he was, but Fury might just be, the team has to work together to deal with everything. Part I of the "If Nothing Else" series. Other pairings hinted at.
1. God of Thunder

**I owe my beta, dysprositos, a LOT for giving me encouragement to not scrap this. And for giving me the idea in the first place. And for making the _fucking amazing_ cover pic.**

* * *

There was something about scientists that drew Thor in. He enjoyed their quick minds because although he was not the smartest Æsir, compared to most Midgardians he was quite brilliant.

Scientists also seemed so vulnerable, with their tendencies to lose themselves in their work. The fragility of these humans was something that Thor did not think he would get used to easily.

Initially, Thor had been drawn to Jane, but her self-absorption was off-putting, and Thor quickly lost interest. She would be a valuable ally, but she was not a good match for him. He wanted a partner he could support, certainly, but not one so bitter, one that he would have to practically carry.

He was intrigued to hear that this so-called 'Avengers' team contained two scientists. They were both men, but that bothered Thor very little. On Asgard, homosexuality was not unheard of. It was only outlawed in times of war, when every citizen needed to perform their duty of producing warriors for the good of the kingdom. In times of peace, however, same-sex partners were uncommon but not frowned upon. To hear that Midgardians were only just beginning to accept it was further proof to Thor that while Midgard may be advanced in some aspects, Asgard was superior in others.

When Thor met the team, he was able to rule the scientist Tony Stark out almost immediately as a potential match. The man was almost as narcissistic as Jane, and his brand of science was almost wizardry, which made Thor think of sorcery, which drew his thoughts to his brother, Loki. Thinking about Loki was not something that Thor liked to do often. The memories were too painful. Thor had made many mistakes regarding his brother, and he feared that he had been the catalyst for Loki's delinquency.

The scientist Bruce Banner was another matter completely, however. He exuded vulnerability. Thor was shocked to learn what his 'super-power' was. For such a large being to be borne of such a small man was astounding. That it was Banner's mistake that had created this creature drew Thor in. He could easily sympathize with him, as Thor felt that his negligence of his brotherly duties and affections had pushed Loki to become this...monster.

* * *

Thor's first experience with the green being was...interesting. The man seemed to be confused. He did not target the humans nearby, but zeroed in on the target most likely to be able to challenge him. This was the Black Widow, at first, but when Thor showed up, the creature immediately focused his rage on him.

He punched hard, but Thor had felt harder. Thor continued to spar with him until he was hit with a hailstorm of bullets from a helicopter. The being turned and charged it, disabling the chopper before falling towards the ground.

Knowing that he could do little else, Thor made his way to the containment cell, knowing this chaos was of his brother's creation.

His brother trapped him in the cage originally designed for Banner. As the cage plummeted, Thor's feelings of sympathy towards the scientist increased.

Barely escaping a crash onto the rocky shore, Thor swung Mjölnir, flying back to his team.

There was a battle coming, and he would not be left out.

* * *

The scientist came up to the battlefield on a motorcycle, and Thor's first thought was concern for him. He was concerned for all of his fellow fighters, but the concern for the vulnerable man surpassed that.

Thor was relieved when the scientist drew in a deep breath, and _transformed_. To see the change up close like that was astounding. Thor's respect for the man nearly tripled in the moment.

During the battle, Thor found himself fighting near the being, who he had learned preferred to be called 'Hulk'. Their fighting styles were very similar. They took down one of the metallic fighting monsters together, with Thor striking the killing blow. Presumably envious of this, Hulk struck Thor, knocking him to the side.

Again, Thor had experienced far worse, but it was still slightly unsettling to be punched by a member of his own team during battle.

The fighting continued in a blur of sound and exertion. Thor faced Loki for a short time, but he could not bring himself to do his brother serious harm.

The Black Widow and Thor's friend, Erik Selvig, shut the portal down. As Thor watched it close, he saw the scientist Tony Stark flying through it with some form of long-range bomb on his back.

Thor gripped Mjölnir tightly, preparing to go to his aid. The man would fall back through the portal, that much was obvious from his trajectory and the speed with which the portal was inching shut.

He saw a red-and-gold object falling, but it did not slow. Thor swung Mjölnir in a circle, about to lift off, when a green blur caught his eye. Hulk was going to Iron Man's aid.

He carried the prone figure down to street level, where Thor and Captain America were waiting.

Thor pried Tony Stark's faceplate off, but the man was not breathing. The item in his chest, previously gleaming, was dull, lifeless. Thor was at a loss, did not know what could be done to help the man, when Hulk roared.

Stark inhaled, and Thor released the breath he had not realized he was holding. The scientist had a sarcastic remark ready, proving that he would be fine, with a little rest.

Thor and Captain America looked gratefully to Hulk.

Tony Stark led them to Stark Tower, leaning heavily on Captain America—no, he was Steve when they weren't fighting. The odd procession stopped in a mostly undamaged room. There were curious indentations in the floor, however. Loki was lying in the floor, next to one of the dents.

There was banter, and a squadron of SHIELD agents arrived to take Loki into custody. Too tired to argue, Thor allowed them to take his brother away, pulling a set of cuffs and a muzzle from seemingly-thin-air. It was an enchanted pocket the Allfather had gifted him on his twenty-fifth nameday, but they did not need to know that.

When Loki was gone, Hulk began to shrink. Thor strode over, supporting the unconscious scientist. He swung the man up into his arms and indicated to Steve that Thor would follow with Banner.

Thor had not yet been given permission to address the reticent scientist by his first name.

Tony Stark pointed them through a doorway, and Steve held the door for Thor, watching his unconscious burden carefully to make sure Thor did not knock Banner's head on the doorframe.

Thor laid Banner on a couch and stepped back, giving the scientist some space but keeping a careful eye on him.

The rest of the team trickled in.

Black Widow spoke up, "Director Fury says for us to lay low. He'll contact us tomorrow to arrange for a meeting."

Everyone conscious made noises of agreement, so the spy departed, wrapping an arm around the archer, her partner. They entered the elevator and the doors swooshed shut behind them.

Exhausted, Tony Stark looked at the others. "I'm beat. If Pepper gets here, tell her I'm in the penthouse. It's not destroyed, I think. Come on, Cap. I'll show you a room you can use on the way. Thor, when Bruce wakes up, there are two bedrooms on this level. If you get hungry, just ask JARVIS. He'll show you to the kitchen. Right, JARVIS?"

"Indeed I will, sir," a disembodied voice said.

Thor was a little startled, but the scientist looked unconcerned.

Thor decided that this was Tony Stark's Tower, so this voice must be one of his creations.

Tony Stark and Steve left together, taking the same elevator the spies had used earlier.

Thor was left alone with the unconscious scientist. He settled into another chair, looking around but keeping one eye on Banner, just in case.

Banner finally stirred about five minutes later. "Wh—Where am I?"

"You are in Tony Stark's Tower, Banner. Do you remember what happened?"

"Bruce, please, Thor. I remember changing to fight the battle. It's mostly flashes after that, but Loki? I remember him. Puny god..." and he trailed off like he was not sure what he was saying. Sitting up, he still looked a little unsteady.

_Loki?_ Thor hadn't given him a second thought since he'd allowed the SHIELD agents to take him away, bound in Asgardian restraints. He regretted this lapse. How could he have forgotten his main responsibility in the face of some 'eye candy,' as Darcy would say?

Shaking his head, Thor focused on the issues at hand. He needed to contact Director Fury. But first, he knew that this was unsettling for Bruce, so he proceeded to explain what Tony Stark had told him, and he told the scientist of his confusion about this...JARVIS.

Bruce chuckled and explained how the voice was a computer.

"I know what computers are, Bruce. But this is unlike anything I have seen."

"To be more clear, JARVIS is an Artificial Intelligence system. He is not human, nor does he have a body, but he acts human. Well, as much as a computer programmed by Tony can be human. I'm still not convinced that _he _is human."

Thor liked that Bruce did not condescend to him. He acted dumber than he was on purpose, and the scientist had passed this little test with flying colors, in this, their first real conversation.

"How do you know this?"

"Tony talks a _lot_. We were tracking your brother for several hours with little else to do but have a conversation."

"So this JARVIS can help me contact Director Fury? Because I am concerned about my brother..."

Bruce opened his mouth to answer but JARVIS beat him to it, "Yes, I can. I'm sorry, I do not know what to call you."

"I am Thor. Do you have the number of Director Fury's phone?"

"Yes, Master Thor, I do. Would you like me to phone him?"

"Yes."

JARVIS did, and Thor had a brief, direct conversation with Director Fury about Loki. They agreed that SHIELD could hold him for the next two days so that Thor could rest, before he used the Tesseract to take them back to Asgard.

That done, Thor wanted nothing more than a bed, and he could see the fatigue on Bruce's face, too.

But when Thor stood, he had to sit back down almost immediately, a hand clasped over his right side.

* * *

**I'm massively insecure about this, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated.**


	2. Man of Science, Being of Emotion

**I am basing a LOT of this off dysprositos's oneshot "Nothing Left." So seriously, read that first. Thanks for letting me use it and for just being a wonderful person/beta in general!**

**Now, I promise to not rehash everything in two PoVs the whole story, but this was necessary as an introduction to Bruce/Hulk.**

**I **_**know**_** a lot of this deviates from "The Incredible Hulk" while some of it doesn't. Just pretend that when Bruce had that Gattaca-esque surgery to change him from Ed Norton into Mark Ruffalo (Hallelujah! Erm. Sorry.) ****he also ditched the pulse monitor. And fuck any other inconsistencies!**

* * *

Bruce Banner had been more than a year without an incident. He was in Calcutta, India, working as a doctor. Now, he had never officially been to med school, but these people were so desperate for help that they didn't ask for his credentials.

Currently, some sort of influenza was plaguing the population. He had just finished treating an older man when a young girl requested his assistance. He gave the man's family some last minute instructions while following the child out the door.

She led him to a house on the outskirts of the city. He entered and watched her retreat, jumping out the window in the back.

His idiocy, even after all these years, was sometimes still amazing.

_Nice setup. Obviously not military. They'd come in guns blazing_, he thought.

A young woman with fiery red hair was standing between him and the door when he turned around. Automatically, his mind was cataloguing the exits. He thought he could fit through the window with some wiggling, and that portion of the wall looked weak enough that he could probably kick it out.

She spoke, and it took a minute for his brain, used to Hindi, to catch up and translate. They wanted him to trace gamma radiation. Didn't they know he hadn't worked with it in years?

While they conversed, he tried to seem as unthreatening as possible, absentmindedly rocking a child's cradle. He could read her, the way she carried herself, and she clearly had training.

Scaring her was one of the most fun things he had done in a while, and how messed up was that?

Knowing he had little choice in the matter, he followed her out the door, noting the hidden troops. They weren't in uniform, which was a good sign. Bruce was fairly sure that General Ross was still after him for daring to be around his little girl while a lethal weapon.

Bruce had no desire to meet him ever again.

Flying was not his favorite thing to do, which was probably related to how he had jumped out of a helicopter during one of his last flights. The way the redhead, Natasha, was eyeing him suspiciously didn't help.

Meeting Steve Rogers really made Bruce sad. Here was the man he'd been trying to emulate as the biggest success of his career, but it turned out to be the biggest failure Bruce had ever experienced. One look at the man proved that Bruce never should have been trying. Steve radiated goodness the way Blonsky had radiated evil. _Now there's a thought I haven't had in awhile_, Bruce realized.

Meeting Tony Stark was pretty fucking cool, though.

Bruce was installed in a lab with more instruments than he'd seen in years. And the improvements that had been made since he'd last used things like these were just epic.

He would have liked to wander around and inspect things, but he had a job to do. Unfortunately.

* * *

Normally, Bruce would have removed himself from the situation long before it got to this point. But, as a disconnected part of his mind rationally pointed out, something was wrong. He was agitated, and he could practically smell the tension in the air, oozing off the others.

Nobody seemed to be acting normally, and nobody seemed aware of their strange behavior. Bruce wanted to go, to find a calm, dark corner somewhere and meditate. Breathe. But this rationality was beaten back by a strange desire to see what happened here. This was the most entertainment he'd had in years. TVs weren't exactly staples in the middle of the forest, and reception would be shitty even if they were there.

When Director Fury asked him to put down the scepter, his first reaction was to deny that he had it. However, he looked down instead.

_Oh._ Bruce obediently put the weapon on the table. _Finally, a normal reaction._

This did not help matters, and the other occupants of the room continued shouting at each other. Suddenly, the Helicarrier rocked with an explosion, and Bruce fell through the floor.

He could feel the emotions swirling, rising to the surface. Desperately, he tried to suppress them, but to no avail.

Natasha's lies only made things worse.

* * *

Hulk could feel Banner's fear in the back of his mind. He looked around, trying to find out what is going on. He could feel the plane moving, and that was _not_ a sensation he liked at all.

His eyes fell on the redhead next to him and he could feel Banner's distaste for the woman.

Hulk had little time and fewer options, so he settled for chasing the black-suited woman. She ran away, true fear in her eyes.

When the blond hammer-man joined the fray, Hulk was glad to have an opponent who could almost match him. He liked that, having a worthy opponent. Not like Blonsky, the spike-man who _wanted_ to hurt people. He had fought dirty, trying to kill Hulk.

Hulk didn't like to hurt people on purpose. He had done it accidentally before, but he didn't want to do it on purpose. Banner's anger at the woman had driven Hulk to attack her, but when he re-evaluated the situation, he went for the target more likely to be able to fight him, hammer-man.

A flying machine shot at Hulk. It only hurt a little, but it made him mad. Hulk didn't want to hurt people, but he had to defend himself. Even weak Banner though that was acceptable.

Hulk charged the machine, taking it out before plummeting to the earth before. The force of the impact was enough to knock him unconscious.

* * *

Bruce pulled up on an old motorcycle. "It's just old, not vintage," the security guard had told him. The street was basically deserted, aside from the ground-based Avengers and Thor. There was a brief lull in the battle, and he was given the team's full attention.

He was immensely gratified to hear Captain America tell Tony that he was there, like Tony was expecting him. It was the best he had felt in a while.

He groaned internally, but turned to face the giant flying snake-monster-thing. _Somebody's been watching a few too many bad sci-fi movies..._

He tapped into that pool of emotion that simmered just below the surface despite all his best attempts to contain it, and then Bruce was no more.

* * *

Hulk roared into existence, facing the giant flying thing. It wanted to hurt Banner's friends, and Hulk did not like that.

He punched it, and then he smashed it. Smashing it was fun.

There was no other immediate threat, so he turned to the other people. The circle-man told Hulk to smash. Hulk didn't know what he was supposed to smash at first; he didn't want to hurt any people. Then he saw the bug-men.

_They will be fun to smash!_ Hulk went to work, happily taking out all the Chitauri he could reach.

Another of the giant flying things came near Hulk. He and hammer-man attacked it together, but hammer-man did the killing smash. That made Hulk angry, and he punched hammer-man.

Hammer-man looked annoyed, but that was not Hulk's problem. _Hammer-man should have let Hulk kill the machine!_

Hulk continued to smash, seeing Banner's friends doing the same. Hulk did it much better.

He knew that the bug-men had a leader, bad people always did. Banner helped him look for the leader, and when Hulk found the leader, he roared at him and moved to smash him.

But the leader tried to talk to Hulk, to stop Hulk from smashing him. He told Hulk that he was a god and Hulk was just a mortal. Hulk didn't like that.

Hulk smashed him. "Puny god."

Hulk went back outside to the fighting. He and Banner's friends had killed the bug-men.

Suddenly, hammer-man and circle-man looked up, agitated. _Metal-man was falling from the sky!_

Hulk decided that he would catch metal-man before hammer-man, and he did. When he put metal-man down with the others, metal-man was not breathing.

Hammer-man and circle-man didn't know what to do, but Hulk did. He roared, and metal-man started breathing.

They walked towards where Hulk left puny-god and people came to put shackles on him. Hulk could stop watching puny-god now, so he closed his eyes and carefully reached for Banner, hiding in the back of his head.

* * *

Bruce came to slowly. He was reclining on some soft surface, and he couldn't hear the sounds of battle.

When he opened his eyes, Thor was sitting on a chair nearby, watching him closely.

Judging by the opulence, he was pretty sure that he was in Stark Tower. But, "Wh—Where am I?" was always a reasonable question.

Thor answered him, confirming his suspicion. When Thor asked what he remembers, Bruce was surprised to find flashes of sound and images in his memory. He has only ever voluntarily changed once, and that was mostly triggered by jumping out of the chopper. No memories like these had ever been left after the change, not even then. _Hmmm..._

For some odd reason, instead of thinking of the villain they faced as "Loki," he wanted to call him "puny god."

Bruce clarified what JARVIS is for Thor, who wanted to contact Director Fury to make arrangements about his brother. Bruce refused to condescend to Thor. He could tell that Thor was smarter than he acted. Bruce didn't know why Thor pretended, but he wanted to find out, someday.

Bruce waited politely until Thor and Director Fury were finished speaking before starting to rise. Thor followed his example, but sat back down almost immediately, a hand clamped to his right side.

Looking closely, Bruce could see the blood under the plates of armor. He asked, "JARVIS, is there a first aid kit on this floor?"

"Yes, Dr. Banner. It is in the other room, under the counter."

Bruce hustled into the other room, ignoring his complaining muscles. He grabbed the kit and a water bottle from the emergency stash under the counter and returned to Thor.

"Can you get that armor off?"

Thor reached for a buckle and tugged, but it was difficult to maneuver one-handed. Bruce brushed his hand away and undid the strap himself.

He winced in sympathy as the injury was revealed. It looked like Thor got a projectile to the side and didn't notice it until the adrenaline wore off.

Bruce dumped half the water bottle in the wound to flush out any debris. He used almost the entire tube of antiseptic in a very liberal application, and covered the whole thing in a complicated mess of gauze and surgical tape.

Thor was looking pale, so Bruce dug for some painkillers and gave the demigod two, along with the water bottle. Truthfully, he had no idea if they would work on the god's presumably enhanced nervous system, but the motion made him feel better.

"Thor, did Tony tell us where to go?"

"What? Oh, yes, Tony Stark told me that there are two bedrooms on this floor for our use."

"JARVIS, where are they?"

"They are through the door to your left, and down that hall. One is on either side." Bruce needed to thank Tony later, the AI really was a marvel.

He slid under Thor's shoulder and helped the demigod rise to his feet. Slowly, they followed JARVIS's directions. Thor's color looked worse with every step they took.

When they reached the first room, Bruce pushed the door open and saw a bigger bed than he's ever seen before in his life.

"Thor, you really don't look well. I'm going to stay in here with you, in case you need anything. I'm so tired, I can just sleep on the floor."

"Bruce, I have shared sleeping quarters with my shield-brothers before, and this bed is large enough for two. Do not make yourself uncomfortable on my account."

Bruce nodded slowly, accepting this, and they staggered over to the giant bed.

Bruce eased Thor down, and removed his armor carefully, now knowing where to look for the buckles. When the demigod was divested of all the metal plating, he lay back, rolling gingerly onto his uninjured side.

Bruce rounded the bed, hitching up his pants. This would probably be a little uncomfortable with him half-nude, so he changed direction, taking a chance by rifling through the dresser, finding a pair of drawstring waist sweat pants that looked about his size.

He changed in the hall and climbed into bed. Thor was already asleep, and Bruce followed him within minutes.

* * *

**Now, what do y'all think about my Bruce and Hulk? I need to know this!**


	3. Dynamics

**My beta, dysprositos, is completely and totally wonderful. Thank you for all the help, especially the support on my decisions about Steve.**

**WARNING: themes of homophobia and racism. I am completely and totally for equality. However, Steve is from another time. He IS learning, though.**

* * *

Bruce is awakened about two hours later. Thor is shaking his shoulder roughly, looking a little green around the edges.

"Bruce, I fear I am about to vomit. I do not know where to go."

Bruce blinks slowly, then the words register. In a flash, he's sliding across Thor's legs to stand next to the demigod. "Come on, I'll help you."

Thor eases to his feet as Bruce addresses JARVIS, "Which of these doors leads to the bathroom?"

"The one on your left, Dr. Banner. Do you require assistance? Captain Rogers is awake..."

"No, JARVIS, I think we can handle this."

Bruce slides back under Thor's arm, and they hustle to the bathroom. Bruce pulls up the toilet seat. Thor looks a little dazed, swaying in place, so Bruce pats his arm and directs Thor, "You kneel on the floor and you can vomit in the toilet. It's pretty disgusting, but nobody's thought up a better way yet."

While Bruce is rambling, Thor follows his instructions, lowering himself to the floor with one large hand braced on the countertop. He dry-heaves a couple times, and Bruce realizes that Thor's hair is in the way.

Nobody wants to get vomit in their hair, so Bruce looks around frantically for a way to secure it back.

He spots a hairbrush and some ponytail holders on the counter. Taking one of the hair ties, he pulls Thor's hair into a sloppy ponytail and secures it, telling Thor, "I'm just pulling your hair back so you don't get vomit in it."

Thor grunts his approval, cut off suddenly as he opens his mouth and vomits.

A bit at a loss for what to do, Bruce rubs his back in what he hopes are slow, soothing circles. Thor finishes vomiting and pulls some toilet paper off the roll to wipe his mouth.

Bruce grabs the glass by the sink and fills it halfway, handing it to Thor. "Swish this around in your mouth to get the taste out."

Thor obeys and then looks up at Bruce, who is hovering awkwardly. "I thank you, Bruce. Vomiting after a battle is nothing new for me, I am afraid. I hate the loss of life, especially when it is caused by my brother."

Bruce can sympathize. He doesn't have the clarity to get into a discussion of issues right now, though, so instead he asks, "Are you done? Do you want to go back to bed?"

"I believe I am done. And I am still tired, yes."

Bruce helps pull Thor to his feet, although he's not sure how much aid he actually gives, and they make their way back to the bed.

Thor reaches over and pats Bruce's arm when they are settled. Bruce lays a hand over Thor's and they drift off to sleep like that.

Bruce's last thought is _he still has that ponytail in his hair._

* * *

Steve is the one who comes in to wake them at about six the next morning. He shakes Thor's shoulder, which moves Thor's arm that still rests on Bruce's. Both startle awake swiftly, and immediately disengage, watching their leader closely.

Steve looks a little...strange, but when he speaks, his voice is normal. "We're having breakfast, and we need to talk about what's going to be done with Loki."

"Okay, Steve. Can you give us a hand? Thor got hurt yesterday, and he might need some help to walk."

In truth, Thor is all but healed. However, he enjoys having the scientist tucked under his arm, helping him walk. "No, Steve, I think Bruce and I can manage."

"Okay, well, Tony says JARVIS, whoever that is, will tell you where to go. See you in a few." Steve's retreat is perhaps a little more hasty than normal.

"How do you feel, Thor?" Bruce's hands are fluttering over the bandage, wanting to look under.

"I feel much better, Bruce. Thank you for your concern. I need to relieve myself before we join the others. Do you mind helping me?" Thor really should have asked that before dismissing Steve, but oh well, what's done is done.

Bruce just climbs out of bed carefully and takes Thor's arm. He needs a few minutes to wake up before he's coherent.

They go into the bathroom and Bruce makes sure Thor is balanced with a hand on the countertop before leaving, shutting the door behind him with a decisive 'snick'.

Thor straightens once the door is closed.

Bruce is sitting on the bed when the door opens, revealing Thor leaning on the frame.

He hurries over and assists Thor to a chair. "I'll only be a minute."

Bruce checks the drawers under the sink and finds a toothbrush, thankfully still in its packaging. He splashes some cold water on his face and brushes his teeth, feeling a lot more human for his efforts at basic hygiene.

Exiting, he searches the drawers for a shirt. Finding two, he turns to Thor. "You want to change clothes or something?"

Thor looks down at his tattered shirt and agrees. Bruce pulls on his shirt (_why didn't I do this last night?_) and tosses Thor's at him.

Thor rips his worn shirt off with one hand and eases the new one over his head.

"Where are we going, JARVIS?" Bruce asks.

"Exit this room and walk to the end of the hall. Take the elevator to the sixty-seventh floor. When you get off, turn left. The kitchen is at the end of that hall."

Bruce ducks under Thor's arm and they head to the elevator.

* * *

Thor and Bruce are the last to arrive. Tony, Clint, and Natasha all sit around the kitchen table.

Clint is twitchy, jumping at every sound and flash of movement. He sits with his back in the corner and Natasha within easy reach.

Natasha looks calm, unruffled as always, but there is a tension at the corner of her eyes that is painfully obvious every time she looks at her partner.

Tony has bags under his eyes and a small stack of tech on the table in front of him. A tumbler is within easy reach, but it does not appear to be filled with alcohol. It almost looks like...milk?

Steve is standing by the stove, griddle and frying pan in use. The smell of bacon hangs heavy in the air. He does not meet either pair of eyes, though both Thor and Bruce look at him quizzically.

"What happened?" Natasha is the one to break the uncomfortable silence.

Bruce answers her as he pulls out a chair and awkwardly deposits Thor in it. "Thor took a bad hit to the side yesterday. He lost a lot of blood, so he's pretty weak."

The chair next to Thor's scrapes as Bruce pulls it out and sits heavily. Tony jumps slightly, as does Clint. Bruce can understand why _Clint_, of all people, is jumpy, but Tony?

"Tony, are you okay? Because frankly, you look like shit."

Tony cringes and it is Natasha who answers, with something akin to softness in her voice. "Tony's girlfriend, Pepper, broke up with him last night. She said something about having a martyr complex on top of being wildly self-destructive. I don't believe Tony's slept."

Bruce remembers reading all of their files on the trip over from India (they thought he should be prepared; no one wants to surprise the rage monster). Thinking about it, he remembers that much of Tony's file was authored by Natasha. Obviously, there's some history there.

This inference is supported by the look Tony shoots Natasha. Bruce, who is not the best at understanding social interactions, does not understand Tony's expression, but Clint is looking between Natasha and Tony like he's seeing something interesting.

Bruce winces in sympathy and reaches to pat Tony's shoulder. The billionaire makes a face, and Clint pushes back from the table slightly, eyeing Bruce's arm like it might bite him.

His reaction time apparently delayed by the sleep deprivation, Tony screeches, "How do you know that?"

Natasha merely looks at him, ignoring her partner's flinch, and calmly answers, "Pepper contacted me to tell me that she was leaving. JARVIS helped with the rest."

"You traitorous bastard!"

Both Steve and Clint cringe at this outburst.

Silent until now, Thor speaks up, "Tony Stark, I am sorry for your loss. This 'Pepper' must not know what she is depriving herself of."

"It's Tony. Just Tony. And yeah, I think she does."

"Tony, don't say things like that about yourself." Bruce can't stand to hear others self-deprecate.

Natasha is nodding in agreement, and Clint looks relieved that they aren't all staring at him.

Steve turns around, two platters full of pancakes in his hands. He sets them in the middle of the table and turns, stopping mid-pivot, hand whipping out to grab Tony's wrist. "I'm getting plates out of the cabinet, you can wait a minute."

Natasha starts to get up to help him, but Clint, panicked, grabs her arm. She sighs, but returns to her seat.

Bruce appears to be the only other person inclined towards or capable of helping Steve, so he rises and opens the refrigerator, grabbing the syrup, milk, and orange juice. He sets the containers on the counter and opens a couple cabinets, searching for glasses.

When he has found those, he makes two trips to the table so that he has enough for everyone. Steve's gotten the plates and forks out and is distributing them. Bruce grabs the bacon Steve has plated, and sets it on the table next to the pancakes.

"Thank you for the help, Dr. Banner."

"Steve, please call me Bruce. And you're welcome."

That settled, they seat themselves, Steve sitting as far away from Thor and Bruce as he can. That must be some sort of silent signal because suddenly arms are flying, and everyone is grabbing for the food. Clint cringes back from the chaos, and Natasha fills his plate and plunks a glass of OJ in front of him before serving herself.

Thor is apparently ambidextrous, as he is enthusiastically digging in left handed so he doesn't disturb his side.

Steve, too, is shoveling food into his mouth. _Must be his metabolism_, Bruce notes.

Tony, Bruce, Natasha, and Clint are eating normal portions of food. Tony is still drinking out of his tumbler, but it's definitely _just _milk.

For ten minutes, the only sounds audible in the kitchen are chewing and the clinking of utensils.

* * *

When they finish eating, Natasha manages to detach herself from Clint long enough to help Bruce load the dishwasher. There was never any need for Steve to learn how to work one because he always ate alone and washed his meager dishes by hand. Between all six of them, it's full up.

They troop into the living room, Bruce under Thor's arm again, and settle onto the couches. Bruce tries to sit on the opposite side of the couch from Thor, but the demigod manages a complicated maneuver and traps the scientist between the arm of the couch and himself. Tony sits at the other end, and Steve shares the couch facing theirs with the assassins.

"We need to decide what to do about Loki." Trust Steve to get right down to business.

"How about we try throwing him in a padded cell and tossing away the key." Tony never has possessed tact.

Thor bristles. "Have a mind to the way you speak. Loki is my brother and a prince of Asgard, and should be treated as such. JARVIS put me in contact with Director Fury last night, and he has agreed to detain Loki for two days so that I can recover. I will then be returning with him to Asgard, where he will stand trial. More than likely, he will be convicted of his crimes and stripped of his magic until the Allfather sees fit to return it to him."

"'More than likely'? I'm not liking these odds," Tony interjects.

"You do have the concept of a 'fair trial' here on Earth, do you not?"

They all wince a little. That was deserved.

Steve answers, looking a little pinched, "Yes, we do, Thor. And I'm glad that Loki will be getting one. Nobody deserves to be judged without a proper hearing."

Natasha speaks up, "I agree." Her voice is hard, her face impassive. They seem to have struck a nerve.

Clint just looks nauseated at the very mention of Loki. Bruce does not feel that he has any right to decide what happens to the trickster. He's fairly sure that at least one country has him on their 'Most Wanted' list.

"It is decided, then. I will return with Loki to Asgard in two days. After his trial, I shall try to return to Earth."

"That sounds like a plan, Thor." The looks Steve is throwing Thor and Bruce are _not_ just a figment of his imagination, Bruce is sure of it.

With that settled, Natasha stands, Clint immediately following. "We'll be around. Just let us know if you need anything." They leave quickly.

"I want to see my brother today. Tony, can you provide Bruce and myself with transportation?"

"Whoa, Thor. I don't think that's such a good idea. Putting me in the same room with Loki has no possible positive ending."

"I disagree, Bruce. You have more control than you think." Steve's head is swiveling back and forth between Bruce and Thor. Tony's fiddling with the TV.

"Watch this, Bruce. It's _highly_ amusing." Tony's watched it about twelve times already, in truth.

The screen flashes black, then lights up, displaying the room they found Loki in yesterday. He is picking himself up off the floor, facing the Hulk, who roars and takes a menacing step forward.

Loki attempts to reason with the Hulk. All it does is make him madder. He stops Loki mid-rant by picking him up by the leg and bashing him into the ground, swinging the trickster like a rag doll.

When the Hulk finishes smashing, he rumbles, "Puny god..."

This is the first time Bruce has heard anything about the Hulk having vocal capabilities. It's also the first time in years that he has seen himself. Well, that side of himself.

"Freeze on him, please, JARVIS." Bruce squirms away from Thor (_do they not have personal space on Asgard?_) and strolls, mesmerized, to the TV until he is close enough to touch.

"Replay that audio, JARVIS. Thanks."

"Puny god..." echoes from the speakers again. Bruce is _floored_. It sounds like him. Well, him with the worst case of laryngitis the world has ever seen, but still.

"Never seen yourself like this before, Bruce?" Tony doesn't sound snarky or mean, or even negative. In fact, he's almost...melancholy.

"Not for a few years, Tony," Bruce answers absently. Thor is watching him closely, and Steve notices this.

"Nobody go anywhere, I'll be right back." Tony jogs into the kitchen, returning with some of the devices that had been in front of his plate earlier.

"I figured, out of all of us, you three were the least likely to have cell phones. So I made you some last night. Cap and Thor both have super-strength models, and Bruce, you have JARVIS programmed in, so you can science anytime you want to." He hands Steve his, tosses Thor's to him, and sets Bruce's on the table, as the scientist _still_ has not stopped staring at the Hulk.

"Bruce, come on. I don't spend that much time in front of the mirror in the morning. Look at the new toy, it's shiny and everything."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark." Steve's a paragon of politeness. Bruce wants so badly to hate the man, but he can't.

"I'm Tony, Cap. Just Tony. Mr. Stark was my father."

"In that case, please call me Steve," and the supersoldier offers his hand to shake. Bruce, finally turned around, is astonished to see the billionaire take the offered hand and shake it firmly.

"Nice to meet you, Steve. It feels like we're starting over. Can we just start over?"

"That sounds like a plan, Tony. It's nice to meet you as well."

"Thank you, Tony. Does this phone have the lovely game 'Words with Friends'? Because Darcy introduced me to it, and I am very fond of the game. I would enjoy playing with her again."

"No, it doesn't. But I can fix that in about fifteen minutes, if you'd like."

Thor's face lights up like a kid in a candy store, so Tony takes the phone back from him and walks out, muttering to himself.

Steve looks uncomfortable to be alone with them. Bruce lowers his glasses enough that he can look at the supersoldier over the top of them, and asks, "What's the matter, Steve?"

"I, uh...It's nothing."

"It is not nothing, though, because you're as red as a tomato right now. I know I'm a little hard to be around, but please, believe me when I say that everything is under control."

Thor interrupts, "Bruce, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Steve, this started when you woke us up this morning. Does this embarrassment have anything to do with that?"

He is _perceptive_, Steve will give him that. "I'm just not used to the idea of two men being together. I mean, I know it's normal now and all, but I'm still adjusting."

"Steve, we aren't together. Thor was pretty sick last night, so I stayed in the room with him in case he needed anything. And I'm glad I did because he got sick in the night and wasn't sure which room was the bathroom."

"Oh." Steve is relaxing, glad that he hadn't been correct in his suspicions. Although, Thor _did_ have a hand on Bruce. Perhaps that was just to keep his arm from resting on his hurt side, though. _Yes, that makes sense_.

"Indeed, Steve, Bruce and I are not 'together', as you say. He was merely assisting me, and I was glad to have his help. Bruce, I do not believe I have properly thanked you, so thank you."

"No problem, Thor. I was glad to do it."

The tension is lifted, and Steve feels comfortable enough to make a joke out of the situation. "If you thought _this_ was bad, you should have seen the first time I met Fury. Uh, back in the '40s...well, there weren't a lot of African-Americans in power. And I was kind of surprised by a black man giving the orders. He knocked me flat on my ass in five seconds flat and then stuck a hand out to help me up. Instant respect."

"Wait, what's this about the Cyclops? Here you go, big guy. Enjoy!"

"Thank you, Tony!" Thor happily starts pushing buttons. When the phone beeps, he positively _beams_. "Darcy has responded! But she is winning, now."

Steve looks askance at the phone when it makes noise, but then he seems to register that Tony has asked a question. "Uh, just telling them what happened when I first met Fury. Like I was saying, he knocked me on my ass and the next day I had a book on the Civil Rights Movement on my doorstep. Very interesting reading. I would like to go to Memphis someday and travel around Georgia."

Thor perks up a little at this, and punches more buttons than he has been using. Bruce sneaks a peek at the screen and sees that the demigod is googling 'Civil Rights Movement'. Thor scans a couple pages before saying, "This is interesting reading, Steve. I would like to borrow this book, please."

"Sure, Thor. SHIELD sent our bags over this morning, and it should be in mine. I'll just go get it." He's halfway out the door before he remembers, "I left your bags on the hall table on this floor."

While Steve is retrieving the book, Thor looks at Tony intently. "You did not answer my question earlier, Tony. Can you take the two of us," he indicates Bruce and himself, "to visit Loki?"

"Of course, big guy. But should you go while you're hurt? I mean, isn't that revealing a weakness or some shit?"

"As long as I do not strain myself, I should be fine by the afternoon. I heal quickly. I can read this book, and by the time I finish I should be all but healed."

"Okay, this afternoon it is. Bruce, wanna come see Candyland? Well, what's left of it, anyway?"

Steve walks back into the room quietly, making them all jump a little when he speaks. "No, Tony. Natasha said you had been up all night, and I want you to get some sleep." He hands the book to Thor, watching Tony closely.

"Yes, mother," Tony sighs. He leaves, headed for the elevator. _Bed _does _sound good_...

"Bruce, I could use some help with this phone if you have some time. I've seen them used so I can work one in theory, but I've never actually operated one myself."

Bruce knows this is the closest Steve will get to an apology. "Of course, Steve. What would you like to know how to do?"

Thor's engrossed in his reading, but he looks up briefly, a smile on his face to see the two interacting so well.

* * *

**What do y'all think?**


	4. Disagreement

**Thank you to my lovely beta, dysprositos, for all the help, and using the word 'douchecanoe.' You're the best!**

* * *

Thor is halfway through his book when his stomach growls audibly. Bruce and Steve look up from where their heads are bent over Steve's phone, gawking.

"You hungry, Thor? I am too, now that I think about it," Steve says.

"Yes, I am."

"Well, we'll go see what we can find. Do you like sandwiches?"

"I do."

Steve sets his phone on the table and motions for Bruce, who has been silent throughout this exchange, to follow him.

They go into the kitchen, and Thor can hear sounds, including low murmurs of conversation. He tries to focus on his book, but his stomach (and his curiosity) distract him.

After about seven minutes, Steve and Bruce return. Steve's carrying a plate piled high with sandwiches, and Bruce is balancing five water bottles in his arms a little awkwardly.

Thor stands carefully and reaches over to relieve the scientist of his burden, placing the water on the table and then surreptitiously (he hopes) tugging the scientist down to sit next to him on the couch.

Steve puts the plate of sandwiches on the table within easy reach, and passes out napkins that he was carrying under the plate.

Thor grabs three sandwiches, Steve two, and Bruce one. Steve uncaps his water before taking a drink, and Thor follows suit. Some of these Midgardian contraptions still confuse him, but he has learned that observation of others will soon provide the knowledge he needs.

His first sandwich is gone in two bites, and he's eating the second one more slowly when the elevator doors open. Natasha steps out, walking quickly over to the table.

"JARVIS said that there was food. Clint's not really feeling up to company right now, so I'm going to take our lunch and go eat with him."

"Of course, Natasha." Steve hands her two water bottles, and she slips them into the pockets of her oversized hoodie. "Just let me go grab another plate; I'll be right back."

Steve hurries back with another plate and hands it to the spy. "Take as many as you think you two will need. We can always make more."

"Thanks." Natasha grabs about six sandwiches and smiles at them.

"You're welcome. I hope Clint does better soon." Steve knows not to say 'gets' better, because he knows it never will, not fully.

Natasha leaves, carrying their sandwiches.

Bruce eats another sandwich, and decides he's full. "I don't think I can eat any more. Do you want me to go make a few more sandwiches? Looks like you two haven't eaten enough."

Steve talks with his mouth full, and it's endearing. "Mph. Yes. Fanks."

Thor just nods, focused on his (_is that my eighth?_) sandwich.

Bruce puts his half-empty water on the table and goes into the kitchen. Thor stops eating long enough to drain the rest of his water bottle. He looks around for another, and takes Bruce's, unscrewing the cap and drinking most of it.

Steve chuckles. "Hey, Bruce! Do you mind bringing in another water or two? Thor just about finished off yours."

Bruce calls back, "Sure!" amusement clear in his voice.

He returns with a water bottle under each arm and a smaller plate of sandwiches.

"Just in time," he indicates the now empty plate on the table.

Thor and Steve both grin a little sheepishly, eyes on the plate in Bruce's hands. As soon as Bruce sets it down, it is halfway depleted. He returns to his seat next to Thor, the demigod is pleased to see.

"I made a couple extra sandwiches for Tony when he wakes up. JARVIS, can you tell him that when he gets up? They're in the fridge in here, along with a Coke for him."

"Yes, Dr. Banner. I thank you on Mr. Stark's behalf."

"No problem."

Thor notices this and smiles a little to himself. The scientist is a caretaker. That's quite sweet, and something Thor likes in a mate.

Bruce picks up his own phone, and punches some buttons, idly occupying himself until Steve is finished eating.

Steve and Thor finish at about the same time, and Steve and Bruce then stand up to clear the table.

"I can do the dishes, there's not much to wash," Steve volunteers.

"Okay, thank you, Steve. JARVIS, are there recycling facilities on this floor?"

"Yes, Dr. Banner. You may place the empty bottles in the chute to the left of the refrigerator. It leads to the storage unit on the first floor."

"Thank you."

Steve carries the plates into the kitchen, and Bruce takes the empty bottles.

"Thor, are you done with that? It looks like there's only one sip left."

Thor obligingly finishes his water, and places the bottle onto the stack in Bruce's arms.

Then he resumes his novel.

A while later, Bruce comes back in the room and announces, "I'm going to go shower. Thor, how are you feeling?"

"I am much better, thank you for asking, Bruce. I think you can remove the bandaging after you shower, and then I can shower too. That way we will be ready whenever Tony wakes up."

On cue, the billionaire stumbles off the elevator. "Food. Now."

Steve comes out and takes the billionaire into the kitchen with him.

Bruce and Thor share a small laugh before Bruce heads to the elevator.

* * *

Bruce comes back into the room, freshly showered with his hair damp and still dripping. He's carrying the first aid kit.

The book Thor was reading sits closed on the table with the bookmark neatly inside the first couple pages. Thor is playing with his new phone.

"Hey, Thor. Want to take that bandage off now?"

Thor looks up, a little startled. "Yes, thank you, Bruce."

"Um, can you take your shirt off then?"

Thor does, and Bruce is pleased to notice that the action of lifting his arm up doesn't seem to bother the demigod.

Bruce sits on the couch next to Thor, and starts carefully picking at the edges of the bandage. Once he has enough lifted that he can get a good grip on it, he apologizes, "Sorry, this is going to hurt, but the faster I do it, the better." Without anymore preamble, he rips the bandaging off Thor's ribcage and abdomen, discarding it to the side.

Thor's skin looks almost flawless, just a slight discoloration to suggest that anything was ever wrong. Before he realizes what he's doing, Bruce is running his fingers over the new skin.

"Oh, sorry." Bruce blushes, a deep red that stains his face and neck.

"Is everything okay, Bruce?" Thor looks concerned. "I do not mind you examining my injury."

Bruce blushes harder, somehow, but takes one finger and carefully traces the edge of the wound.

"It looks...great. This advanced healing is wonderful. You shouldn't have any problems with this side at all, and all of the food you ate should help boost your electrolytes so that you don't feel weak anymore."

"That is good news. Thank you, Bruce!"

"You're welcome, Thor. I went ahead and took your bag back to the room when I got mine."

"Thank you, Bruce."

Thor takes the elevator back to the level where their room was, still shirtless, carrying the discarded shirt in his hand. He's elated that Bruce had taken his bag back to the room, and Bruce's blushing was quite adorable.

When he gets into the room, he pulls off the rest of his clothing and drops it on the floor with the shirt.

He enters the bathroom, nude, and looks at his reflection in the mirror, smiling softly at his hair, which is still pulled up.

He lets it down and gets under the water.

* * *

Once Thor is finished, he pulls another pair of pants out of his bag, and mutters the incantation for his armor. It appears on his body, freshly polished and shining.

Thor has a brief pang of melancholy, remembering the day that Loki had enchanted his armor to do this. He shakes it off, knowing that he will have an opportunity to rectify his mistakes with his brother soon.

"JARVIS, where is Mjölnir?" Thor does not want to summon the hammer, as it would crash through the walls to return to his hand.

"Your hammer is on this floor, in the room at the end of the hall. Thank you for your consideration of Mr. Stark's home, Master Thor."

"You are welcome, JARVIS."

Mjölnir in hand, Thor feels better. He feels even better after he puts his hair back up, carefully.

* * *

Thor returns to the room where he had left Bruce. The scientist has cleaned up in his absence, discarding the bandages and putting the medical kit away. He is idly flipping through the book that Thor had left, intending to return it to Steve.

"Bruce." Thor's quiet, but he wants to announce his presence. And have all of Bruce's attention focused on him.

Bruce looks up. "Oh, hey, Thor. Steve fed Tony, and now he's coherent. He said he needed a shower, too, but that he would be ready in about—" he checks his phone, "—thirty minutes. Steve went to go check up on Natasha and Clint."

_Thor's hair is up. Again. That's new_, Bruce thinks.

"That is fine. Are you all ready to go?"

Bruce opens his mouth to argue, but Thor cuts him off. "No, Bruce. You have better control than you think, and I want you to come with me."

"Could I even win this argument?"

"No," Thor smiles, to soften the blow, and is relieved when Bruce seems to relax a little.

"Well, then, I won't. No point in having unnecessary conflict, right?"

Thor picks his cell phone up off the table where he left it, and Bruce opens the book back up.

They pass the time in companionable silence.

* * *

"Let's go, party people!" Tony bounds through the doorway.

Bruce doesn't know how it is possible for the man to have this much energy on only a few hours of sleep.

Thor is raring to go. "Are you ready, Tony?"

"Yeah, big guy. Let's do this!"

Bruce rolls his eyes, but gets up hesitantly. Thor settles a hand around Bruce's left bicep, tugging a little. The demigod looks down at Bruce with an amused smile.

"You're coming, Bruce. Don't try and fight anymore."

Bruce just sighs.

Tony leads them into the elevator and then into the parking garage, on a special floor where he has to key in a passcode to gain access.

Once in, Tony looks the two of them over, sizing them up.

"Guess the 'Vette is out them. Hmmm..." he scans the rows of cars, heading up one. Glancing over his shoulder, he notices that Thor and Bruce aren't following, so he beckons to them. Thor still has a hand around Bruce's arm, and he pulls the scientist forward.

Tony settles on a luxury pickup truck. "I feel like being badass today. Not much more badass than a truck."

Thor and Bruce have a brief disagreement over who is getting in the backseat, before Tony intervenes.

"Look, Thor will never fit back there; there's not enough legroom. Bruce, get in the back, and _let's go_."

Bruce climbs in, stumbling a little on the running board. Thor steadies him, hiding a smile behind his hand.

"Anybody have any song requests?" Tony pauses for about two seconds. "No, good, I'm DJing then." He cues up the heavy metal station, but turns the volume from 'earsplitting' down to 'tolerable' in deference to his passengers.

The music makes conversation impossible, and they are soon pulling up outside SHIELD headquarters.

* * *

Agent Hill meets them just inside the door. "Director Fury will see you now. This way, please."

Thor has replaced his hand on Bruce's arm like he expects Bruce to run away. Tony just trails after them, attempting to get a rise out of Agent Hill with his snarky comments about anything and everything, from her ass to the state of the facilities.

She doesn't take the bait, and within five minutes, they are all seated before Director Fury's desk. Said man is not in the room, but is supposed to return shortly.

Thor recognizes this for the power play that it is, but refuses to be cowed by the SHIELD Director.

Fury finally ambles in ten minutes later. He seats himself into the large chair behind his desk, and looks the three of them over contemplatively.

"What can I do for you?"

"I want to see Loki. And we need to discuss arrangements for tomorrow, when I return with him to Asgard."

Fury's mask tightens around the corners. "You can see him, but not so fucking fast on the other shit. I think we should keep him here, where we can keep a fucking eye on him. And he needs to be punished for his actions here on Earth. Who the hell better to do that then we Earthlings ourselves?"

"You gave your word that you would hold him until I could safely transport him back to Asgard. Are you going back on that?" Thor's hand tightens threateningly on Mjölnir.

Tony opens his mouth, but Bruce kicks him. Hard. Tony takes the hint, shutting his mouth and rubbing his shin in silence.

"I just think it would be better for Loki to stay here on Earth. And I'm not the only one. What are we supposed to tell the people, that Loki came and fucked up their city, but it's okay, he's gone back to Asgard, and his daddy's gonna take care of him?"

"Have care how you speak about my brother. I know a little about your Midgardian justice system, and doesn't the place where the first crime was committed have extradition rights? Loki is wanted for crimes on Asgard, which he committed _before _he came to Earth. Therefore, the Asgardians should have the right to punish him first. What am _I _to tell _them_, Director Fury?"

Fury glares. _Thor's fucking hand is still on his hammer, and it looks like goddamn Stark's siding with him. I can't fight all of the motherfucking Avengers. Shit._ "I suppose you do have a point. I don't like this, but let's go with it. I want him gone today. Now. Yesterday. Get him the fuck out of my hair."

Tony can no longer restrain himself. "You don't _have _hair."

"Shut the fuck up, Stark, _you're _still in my fucking jurisdiction. As for you, Banner, why the fuck are you even here?"

"I asked Bruce to come." Thor is still glaring at Fury, and this enables him to give the last word on the subject.

"What-the-fuck-ever, I don't really care. Just get your fucking brother and get the fuck off my planet."

Tony mock salutes, and grabs Bruce's arm. "Let's go. We have a few things to do. We'll be at the truck, big guy."

"Like what?" But Bruce follows his fellow scientist out the door, leaving Thor alone with Fury. Thor doesn't want Bruce to leave, wants him to stay with him, but he can't look weak in front of Fury. Admitting that he wants Bruce there would be to show Fury that he is weak. This would give Fury an advantage, and Thor cannot have that.

He asks, "Where is my brother?"

Fury doesn't give Thor a direct response, just pages Agent Hill, "I want your ass in here yesterday."

She hurries through the door. "Yes, Director Fury?"

"Take him to his fucking brother."

"Yes, sir." She beckons to Thor, who shoots Director Fury one last dirty look before following her. _This bears mentioning __to the others. I do not think that it is wise for them to continue to work under this man. He seems to have little regard for his subordinates, and that is not the way of a proper leader._

Agent Hill leads Thor to a containment cell similar to the one that they had placed Loki in on the Helicarrier. Loki is pacing, agitated, still cuffed and gagged. He looks up when Thor's presence registers, almost...wary of his brother. Thor does not like this.

His brother has no reason to fear Thor.

"Come, Loki. We are going to return to Asgard."

Loki shakes his head violently 'no.'

"I will not let them hurt you, brother! The Allfather is merciful, as you know. _Please_ be reasonable."

A strange expression steals over Loki's face, before he shakes it off and returns to his usual haughty dignity.

"That's better. We are going to go with my friends, and they will help us get together what we need for transportation back to Asgard. Let's go."

When nothing happens, Thor fixes Agent Hill with a hard stare. "Open the door."

She does. Thor strides inside the cage, and loops an arm through Loki's.

He guides his brother back to where they had left the truck, noting that Loki's composure seems to slip and return alternately. Something is wrong, and Thor hopes their father can shed some light on Loki because Thor does not know how he can help.

When they arrive at the where Tony had parked the truck, the truck is gone. Tony's there, leaning up against the side of a larger SUV. Steve walks around the side, after a second, calling to Tony.

"Did I do that right?"

"Um, yeah, Steve, that's right. Oh, hey, look, they're here."

"Where is Bruce?" Thor asks.

"Bruce drove the truck back so he could get started on some stuff. We needed a bigger car because you and Loki are both fucking huge. Steve volunteered to bring it. So yeah, that should be everything that's happened. Hey, Reindeer Games."

Loki sneers as elegantly as possible from under the muzzle. Thor is just relieved that Bruce is well, but upset that the scientist will not be with him as much as possible before Thor has to return to Asgard, especially now that the departure time has been pushed up.

Tony drives, and Steve sits in the passenger seat twisted around to keep an eye on Loki, who shares the middle row with Thor. It's a tight fit, but they agreed that it was the best way.

When they arrive at Stark Tower, Tony pulls up in front, and cuts off the engine, pulling out his phone.

"Bruce? Yeah, we're ready... Can you bring the other two and follow me to Central Park? I called Selvig earlier, and he's bringing the Tesseract and meeting us there... Okay, sure. Did you find everything you needed?"

Tony pulls the phone away from his ear, handing it to Steve, who has been gesturing impatiently for it.

"Hello, Bruce. Be careful with Clint, okay? And please be quick, we don't need anything else to go wrong. Goodbye."

Steve looks at the phone, trying to hang it up, but it's a different model than his and he doesn't know how, so he just hands it back to Tony with a shrug.

"He says they're all ready to go, and they should be out here in a minute."

"Thanks, Steve." There is no trace of sarcasm in Tony's voice.

After a minute of awkward silence, a small gray car pulls up behind them. Tony checks the mirror and rolls down his window to wave.

"We're off. Please keep all hands, feet, and objects inside the vehicle at all times."

* * *

**Actual _plot_! Thoughts, ideas, anything?**


	5. Fraternity

**A massive thank you to my wonderful beta, dysprositos, who puts up with my crazy (of which there is much) and asks the best damn questions.**

**WARNING: a little violence. We earn our rating here, I believe.**

* * *

They arrive at Central Park, and Thor sees Bruce's car pull into a parking spot a little down the row. Bruce, Natasha, and Clint get out and walk over to another car, tapping on the window and then stepping back to let Erik Selvig out.

Erik shakes Bruce and Clint's hands, the latter's struggle to remain calm written plainly on his face. The group walks towards Tony's car, Clint and Natasha bringing up the rear, hands brushing as they walk.

Thor is glad to see such a good brother-sister bond between the two; it reminds him of his relationship with Sif.

When they reach the car, Tony and Steve get out and Steve opens Loki's door for him. Loki gets out, and Thor slides across the seat to follow him.

They form a loose phalanx around Loki, with Tony and Bruce at the front. The scientists lead their odd procession to an open area of ground, where they stop. Erik steps forward, and Bruce hands Tony a piece of technology to hold before helping Erik wrestle open the case in his hands.

The Tesseract is revealed, and Thor sees a moment of unbridled lust in Loki's eyes before that emotion, too, is quenched, Loki's face a mask once more.

Bruce manipulates the cube into the device with the help of Erik and Tony. He beckons Thor forward and briefly explains its mechanics.

Steve steps forward to Loki's side. "I'll stay with him while you say your goodbyes, Thor."

"Thank you, Steve." They shake hands, mutual respect written on their faces.

Thor starts with Erik, shaking his hand before laughing and pulling the older man into a tight hug.

Tony is next, and they shake hands firmly. Thor hands the billionaire his cell phone, as he cannot take it to Asgard. Tony smiles, and promises that it will be updated when Thor gets back.

"I'll hold you to that, Tony."

Natasha and Clint stand side by side. Thor reaches out carefully to shake Clint's hand, holding his gaze, an apology clear in Thor's eyes. Natasha presents her hand for a handshake, and surprises Thor by tugging him in for a quick hug with her grip on his hand.

She whispers a soft 'thank you' in his ear, and then he understands.

Finally, Thor comes to Bruce, who has been hanging back like he is trying to distance himself from the team. Thor pulls the reluctant scientist into a tight embrace.

"Take care, Bruce."

"Thanks, Thor. Uh, you too."

Thor wants to stay. But, he has responsibilities that he cannot ignore, so he turns on his heel and walks back to Steve, taking the device from him.

He puts one end of it in Loki's hand, and twists the other, eyes fixed on Bruce's face.

Thor and Loki disintegrate as the Tesseract takes them home.

* * *

They arrive near the ruined edge of the Bifrost, where Heimdall stands.

Thor tugs the device from Loki's loose grasp, tucking it under one arm.

"Greetings, Heimdall. Has the Allfather been forewarned of our return?" Thor dislikes this return to formality. It feels like an itchy, ill-fitting second skin.

"Yes, my prince."

"Thank you."

Thor settles his free hand on Loki's back, in what he hopes is a comforting manner, and they begin to walk to the palace that is just visible on the hill above.

* * *

The halls are strangely deserted, and Thor appreciates the privacy. The throne room is vast in its emptiness, but Odin and Frigga wait with a small retinue of guards.

Thor has to exert more pressure with his hand on Loki's back because he is acting like he would run for the door given the slightest opportunity.

This behavior is most unusual, as Thor's brother has _always_ taken responsibility for his actions. Loki had always faced Odin for every prank he played, and Loki did it with a smirk on his face, proudly, vainly.

Thor has no more time to think on this because they are at the base of the steps. Thor bows, and when Loki makes no move to, he tugs him down so that Loki, too, bows. While they are bowing, Thor places the device off to the side.

When Thor looks up, Frigga is visibly restraining herself from coming over to them. Odin is scowling.

He takes a long look at Loki, and then speaks, "That is _not_ my son."

Frigga and Thor share an apologetic glance before trying to explain, speaking over each other.

"I know he is not our birth child—"

"Loki _is _my brother—"

Odin lifts a hand and they fall silent. "I do consider Loki to be my son. _That_ is not Loki," he points at the man standing next to Thor.

The man blanches and tries to run, but Thor is faster and gets between him and the exit. The guards move down and surround him in a circle.

Thor slides Mjölnir into his belt and grasps the imposter's arm firmly. He propels him to Odin, who has come to stand on the level ground below his throne. The guards stay close.

Odin holds Gungnir, and he uses the spear to draw a complex figure in the air. A green light forms around the imposter, who grimaces.

The light clears. A strange man is revealed, similar to the Asgardians in form, except for his skin, which has a definite purple tint to it. This marks him as a member of the Chitauri in race, but a sorcerer since he does not share other attributes with the Chitauri. They have not battled the Chitauri in many years, but their basic biology, as well as that of all Asgardian enemies, is taught to children in school.

He looks ferocious, eyes darting every which way, looking for an escape route.

Frigga, standing to the side between two guards, gapes.

Odin merely blinks for a long, slow second. Then, he reaches forward and touches the sorcerer's head, closing his eye in concentration.

After a few minutes have passed, the sorcerer's face goes slack, and he crumples to the ground. Odin pulls his hand back, looking grave.

Thor sidesteps the sorcerer's falling body, watching his father.

"I have placed him in a version of the Odinsleep. He cannot be awakened by anyone other than myself. Take him to the dungeons," Odin gestures, and three of the guards break away. Two of them pick up the unconscious sorcerer, while the third goes to open the door for them.

Odin directs another guard to assemble all of the warriors, and then he sits down on the steps before his throne. He looks disturbed.

Frigga settles next to him on the step, and Thor squats in front of his parents. "What's wrong, Father?"

"Your brother was taken by the Chitauri after he fell from the Bifrost and impersonated. Their goal appears to have been dual conquest of both Midgard and Asgard, which is why they used his form. I know where he is, and we _will_ get him back."

Frigga gasps quietly, and Odin shifts to wrap an arm around her. It's the most human Thor has ever seen his parents, and he is _glad _that his father is willing to go rescue Loki, despite all the trouble he caused with the Jötunn.

The guard returns to tell Odin that the warriors are on their way, and Odin stands, shifting Frigga over into Thor's arms. Thor gently pulls her out of the way so that his father can address the warriors who have filed silently into the room.

"My son, Loki, has been taken by the Chitauri. We must go and retrieve him. I know he has wreaked havoc here recently. As such, anyone who does not wish to participate in the rescue mission may leave now, unopposed." A wave of Odin's hand opens the double doors at the back of the chamber.

A few leave. The others close ranks around the empty spots and calmly await their instructions. Thor can see his friends among those who remain, a most welcome sight.

"We leave now."

The warriors turn to face the door and Odin strides to take his place at the head of the procession after picking up the Tesseract in its device from the steps. Thor kisses his mother's brow and watches her walk over to her attendants before following his father to the front, pulling Mjölnir from his belt.

Thor and Odin nod at each other, and start walking. They lead the warriors to the ruined Bifrost. Without looking behind him, Odin raises a hand for the warriors to halt.

Father and son approach Heimdall. The gatekeeper looks pensive.

"I cannot see Loki, my king. However, you are going to the right place, if you want to find the Chitauri."

"Thank you," Odin nods and turns to face the warriors, who stand in two long lines. "Grasp the arm of the one standing next to you."

The warriors look confused, but they obey. Odin takes one end of the Tesseract device and offers the other to Thor. Thor grasps it and places his other hand on top of the interlocked arms of the first two warriors. From a few rows back, Sif smiles at him.

Odin twists, and they are gone.

* * *

They land on a flat plain, structures just visible in the distance. Odin orders watchfulness, and they march forward. Thor thought that the Chitauri ship had been destroyed, but he supposes that it makes sense for them to have more than one base of operations.

It takes them less time than Thor would have thought to reach the structure, and he is unprepared, lost in thoughts about Bruce and Loki, when they do. Odin halts abruptly, and Thor nearly runs into his father before he catches himself and stands up straight.

The area appears utterly deserted.

Ripped from his thoughts, Thor is now on high alert, and he focuses, scanning the structures for any signs of movement as Odin divides the warriors up into search parties.

The search parties move out cautiously, and Thor cannot be still, watching each cluster of people for the smallest sign that they have found something.

After what feels like several lifetimes of waiting, Fandral's group sets up a shout. Thor practically flies to their location, he runs so fast.

Heedlessly pushing people aside, Thor rushes into the hut. Inside, shackled to a pole, gagged, and crumpled in a heap, is Loki. _His brother_.

Thor pulls his hunting dagger from its sheath along his leg, and begins to carefully slice through Loki's bonds, murmuring nonsense to him all the while.

Odin arrives after Thor has freed Loki's hands, and their father tenderly removes the gag as Thor saws through the bonds at Loki's feet.

Loki is freed, but he does not move, does not look at his rescuers. He looks lifeless, like a doll.

Thor meets Odin's eye, transmitting a silent question. Odin nods back, almost imperceptibly.

Beaming, Thor gently stoops and picks up his brother. He is shocked at how light Loki is, how his tattered clothing hangs off him.

The warriors are forming a protective phalanx around the royal family when the Chitauri attack.

Thor immediately backs into the hut, clutching Loki protectively to his chest. Odin takes a defensive stance at the entrance as Lady Sif and the Warriors Three position themselves around Thor, facing outward to watch for any attack.

Nobody is looking at Thor, so he carefully kisses his brother's brow and smoothes a hand tenderly across his matted hair.

Loki stirs a little, pressing himself closer into Thor's chest.

* * *

The battle is short and bloody. A few valiant warriors fall, but the Chitauri are soundly vanquished.

The warriors buzz around, stacking the Chitauri corpses off to the side and gathering the Asgardian dead and wounded for the trip back.

Thor wants to shield Loki from the carnage, but he knows it might help his brother to see the bodies of his tormentors, so he tucks Loki's face into his chest with one hand and strides over to where the Chitauri are stacked like cordwood.

Carefully positioning them so that his brother cannot see the other Asgardians, Thor pulls Loki's face from his chest and turns his chin so that Loki can see the dead.

"They're all dead, brother, and they won't hurt you any more. I promise."

Loki whimpers, and Thor bounces him a little like he remembers their mother doing when they were children. It quiets Loki, who tucks himself still closer into Thor.

Shortly after, they are ready to leave, and Thor settles himself in the center of a ring of warriors. Several rings are formed, linked together, but each protecting something in its middle.

Odin and Sif hold the Tesseract device, and they prepare to twist it.

Thor tightens his arms around Loki and closes his eyes.

* * *

They arrive on Asgard and the wounded and dead are bustled off to the appropriate locations.

Thor carries Loki to his bedroom. Frigga and her attendants await him there. She is pale but determined.

Thor lays his brother on the bed and moves to step away so that the women can tend to him, but Loki clutches his cape tightly.

Chuckling a little, Thor slides into the bed and pulls Loki up to sit against his chest.

Seeing Loki's fear, Frigga shoos all but a few ladies out of the room. They remove Loki's clothing, and Thor is astonished at how malnourished his brother looks.

He knew Loki felt too light, but this is a new level of cruelty. Thor finds himself regretting not being able to fight the Chitauri, but he knows that he did more good staying with his brother than he would have done in the battle.

Frigga gently washes Loki, and with Thor's help, redresses him in comfortable clothes.

A servant brings in a platter of food, and then everyone but Frigga and Thor leaves.

The food is put temptingly before Loki, but he turns his head away from it, frightened.

Thor is not sure that this will work, but he scoots until he is in Loki's line of sight, and then he picks up a grape and a piece of cheese and pops them in his mouth.

Frigga follows his example, eating some poultry and drinking from the goblet of watered-down wine.

Loki looks marginally more comfortable, and he reaches out, carefully eating only what his mother and brother had.

He takes a couple bites, and then puts a piece in front of Thor's mouth. Thor smiles, and opens it, allowing Loki to place the meat on his tongue and waiting until he was sure Loki's fingers were out of the way before he closes his mouth, making appreciative noises as he chews.

They finish the meal in this fashion, Loki eating a little and then feeding Thor. Frigga smiles at her sons.

After they have eaten, Thor nudges Loki until he lies down. Thor removes his armor, setting Mjölnir within easy reach. Loki watches Thor with big eyes, but as Thor settles against the headboard, Loki gets the idea, and tucks his face into Thor's side, closing his eyes.

Frigga pulls her sewing bag out of nowhere, and picks up where she left off on her previous project.

* * *

A few days later, Loki still has not spoken or let Thor out of his sight for more than a few minutes. His behavior is childlike in the extreme, and Thor wonders how much Loki remembers of their last encounter.

Loki _should_ be blaming Thor for letting him fall, _not _clinging to him like Thor might disappear at any second.

It has become obvious that Loki is not going to recover quickly, and he seems to have a setback every time he leaves his room. Asgard is a warlike realm, and as much as Odin wants to change that, to make it easier for his son, he cannot. He can do very little, as a matter of fact. Loki shies away from him.

Seeing an armed warrior makes Loki cling to Thor even worse. Thor seems to be the only weapons-bearing person who can be around Loki without frightening him.

Thus, one evening after Loki has fallen asleep, Thor slips out of the room, leaving his capable mother in the room with his brother, and goes to speak with his father.

Odin proposes taking Loki to Midgard to sojourn with Thor's friends. He suggests that perhaps they would be better equipped to handle Loki's...problems.

Asgard has been changing, revolutionizing, but they do not have the psychological care that Earth has. With this in mind, Thor agrees to the plan.

He will tell Loki that they are going in the morning, and they will pack, leaving after lunch.

Thor returns to Loki's room, sliding into bed next to him.

* * *

Loki does not show much of a reaction to Thor's announcement, but then again, they are considering any facial twitch an accomplishment.

Frigga, however, cries, hugging Loki tightly to her chest until he squirms away, tentatively touching her face. She leans into his touch, startling him. He jumps, but cautiously replaces his hand. She hums in contentment, and Loki smiles, just a little.

This is new, and it sets off a fresh round of tears from Frigga. Loki stays with her, watching her owlishly until she calms.

She takes Loki's hand and leads him to the chairs in the corner of the room, and they sit. Frigga tells Loki a story, a childish tale of two brothers going on a picnic. Thor recognizes the characters as himself and his brother, but Loki seems entranced. He is impassive, but he has not moved, and he keeps his eyes on Frigga's face.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Thor packs for the both of them, putting Loki's weapons in his own luggage, knowing that his friends are going to be wary enough of Loki without him bearing weapons.

The Chitauri taking his form would have ensured that the other Avengers will be using extreme caution, and rightly so. Thor just hopes that his brother's behavior, so different from the imposter's, will endear him to them.

He is careful to remain cheerful around his brother, who does not need to fear their trip. After lunch, Odin brings the Tesseract device to Loki's room, handing it to Frigga and hovering just inside the door, giving Loki his space.

Thor gives Loki the bags to carry, knowing that this might make him seem less threatening.

As he twists the device, Thor is prepared to face the worst, with Mjölnir within easy reach.

* * *

**Reviews make me happy. Feed the author?**


	6. Foundations

**My beta, dysprositos, is the epitome of awesome. I credit all of the science to her, and I thank her for catching the fact that Steve was in two places at once.**

* * *

Bruce drove Tony's truck back to Stark Tower, on the phone with Tony for most of the drive.

Once he'd parked, he got out of the car and said, "JARVIS, can you send Steve down here?"

"Yes, Dr. Banner."

Steve came down and Bruce explained what Tony needed. He gave Steve the keys for a SUV and sent him to SHIELD HQ.

Then he asked JARVIS for directions to Tony's lab and went to work.

Tony had apparently talked to Thor at some point and had sketched out some plans for returning Thor and Loki to Asgard using the Tesseract as an energy source. Thor would handle the specifics. What they needed was a container that could direct the Tesseract's energy for the teleportation and stop it from frying everyone within a half-mile radius.

During their phone conversation, Tony had given Bruce some verbal instructions, then referred him to a password-protected file on his server.

Bruce thought that the fact that Tony's password was 'capam704' shouldn't have been as funny as it was. Apparently, Tony had a bit of hero-worship of Captain America going on.

Anyway, Bruce tweaked Tony's design a bit, altering the proposed curvature of the sides of the vessel to maximize energy refraction. With JARVIS's help, he soon had it built. He put it in the garage and went into the residential part of the Tower.

He was just grabbing a protein bar in the kitchen when his phone rang. He talked to Tony, who said that his end was all ready. JARVIS summoned the assassins to the garage as Tony passed the phone off to Steve, whose concern for Clint was quite touching, though unexpected. But then, Bruce supposed that Steve had dealt with similar situations before.

Hanging up, Bruce realized he was already halfway down to the garage thanks to Tony's elevator.

_Huh, I got in the elevator without even realizing. I usually have to build up to doing that,_ he thought.

Natasha and Clint met him inside the door, next to his equipment.

"This yours, Doc?" Clint asked.

Glad to see Clint interacting with people other than Natasha, Bruce answered, "Yeah, it is. And you can call me Bruce, if you want." Realizing he'd never actually thought to ask, Bruce added, "Do you prefer Agent Barton or Clint or...?"

"Um, Clint works when I'm not on the job, Bruce."

"Nice to formally meet you, then," Bruce reached to shake his hand. Clint slanted a glance at Natasha—so quickly that if Bruce hadn't been looking for it, he would have missed it—before accepting.

Their handshake was brief, and Bruce tried to exert the minimum amount of pressure necessary. Clint flashed him a smile that contained too many teeth to be fully friendly, but he stooped and grabbed the container from the ground.

Natasha spoke up for the first time, "Can you drive, Bruce?"

"Sure, if you want." It didn't escape his attention that she called him 'Bruce.' Obviously, his calling her 'Natasha' would bleed over.

"Okay, then, pick your poison," she gestured to the assembled rows of cars.

Bruce grabbed the keys for a small, gray car off the organized rack and led the way to where it was parked on the end of a row.

Clint opened the passenger door and set the device on the seat. "Should I buckle it in?"

"No, it'll be fine. Thanks."

Natasha opened the back door, sliding behind the passenger's seat where she could keep a closer eye on Bruce. Clint sat in the middle, both to have contact with Natasha and so that he could see the mirrors.

Bruce could understand Clint's paranoia.

He pulled out of the garage and stopped behind the SUV, which was parked in front of the building. Tony, who was driving, stuck a hand out of the window to wave. Bruce tentatively waved back. Tony pulled away from the curb.

Bruce had to take advantage of every single memory he had of driving to both deal with New York traffic and keep up with Tony.

Natasha offered up some useful advice, and Clint pointed out, "They're not going to give _us_ a fucking speeding ticket after we saved their asses." Apparently, Clint didn't like authority. Interesting characteristic for a government employee.

Thankfully, they were not pulled over, and they soon arrived at Central Park unscathed. Bruce grabbed the container out of the passenger's seat as Clint and Natasha slid from the backseat.

The assassins led the way over to another car, knocking on the window to alert its occupant of their presence.

Bruce didn't know how he felt about seeing his old friend Erik Selvig again after all these years, so he offered a noncommittal smile and a handshake.

The four of them walked over to the SUV and surrounded Loki after he got out.

Bruce walked by Tony, who seemed to be looking for something. Once they reached an uncluttered area of ground, Bruce understood.

They stopped, and he and Selvig opened the case containing the Tesseract. Bruce used tongs to put it into the container that Tony held open.

Then, he motioned to Thor. Once the demigod was within earshot, Bruce explained the mechanics briefly to him. He nodded, turning back to Loki.

Steve and Thor spoke, and then Thor made the rounds to say goodbye.

Bruce was surprised to see Natasha hug Thor, but he was on her right side and Clint was on her left, the demigod standing in between the SHIELD employees, and he saw Natasha whisper something to Thor.

Then, Thor was approaching him where he stood a little away from the others.

It should not have been so surprising that Thor wanted to hug him, not after their tactile interactions at the Tower, but it caught Bruce off guard nonetheless. He put up a small amount of resistance, but in the end, he couldn't help relaxing into the first human contact like this that he'd had in years.

Bruce felt an odd pang when the demigod turned to walk away, looking back over his shoulder once at Bruce and making eye contact before turning to watch where he was walking.

It was a strange feeling, this sensation, but Bruce didn't analyze it because he was so fascinated by the tableaux playing out in front of him.

Thor and Loki grasped the device Bruce had made, and Thor twisted.

They vanished in a beam of light, and it was _fascinating_.

* * *

No sooner have Thor and Loki gone than Selvig is grabbing his empty case and waving over his shoulder as he heads for his car. Bruce can't really blame him; having your brain taken over by a megalomaniacal demigod can't be the best thing for your peace of mind.

The Avengers turn to each other. Nobody speaks for a moment. Then, Natasha jerks her head to the left sharply and heads in that direction with a sharp, "I'll be right back."

Clint moves to follow her, but Steve steps in his path, distracting him with questions about proper bow maintenance or something. Clint stiffens, but he eventually relaxes into the conversation, gesticulating animatedly.

Tony looks pensive, and Bruce does not want to break his reverie, so he amuses himself by counting in one-hundred-forty-firsts as high as he can.

As he's doing it, he idly keeps an eye on Natasha. She stops at an unobtrusive white van and raps on the side.

The door opens, and a dark-haired woman gets out. It's hard to tell from this distance, but if Bruce had to hazard a guess, he would say that it's Agent Hill.

They converse, and then Hill pulls a bundle out of the van, handing it to Natasha. Natasha shakes Hill's hand, but Bruce is not surprised to see them embrace quickly before Natasha turns back to the others.

She walks back over, eyes on Clint, who is deeply into some complex explanation or other. Steve is nodding along, interested. Bruce can't read her expression well, but he would guess that she is pleased that Clint is having a normal interaction with someone other than herself.

"That was SHIELD. They wanted to make sure Loki really left."

"Well, why didn't they come join the party?" Tony, ever sarcastic, wants to know.

"They did," Natasha gestures. It takes a second, but Bruce can quickly pick the undercover agents out of the crowd in the park.

_Damn, Banner, you need to be more alert. You can't let them lull you into a false state of security because that's when they_ _strike._

"What's that?" Steve asks, gesturing at the bag in Natasha's hand.

"Oh." She steps around Steve, walking over to Bruce. He is surprised to be offered the bag, but a faint, musty smell wafts up from it and then he understands. He _knows_ that smell, old and faded as it is.

"SHIELD took over tracking you from Ross about a year back. We took everything related to you from them. A woman, Ross's daughter, I think, asked us to give you this. Said you'd understand. Agent Hill pulled a few strings to get this for you. She says that Fury's royally pissed and anyone who wants to live should avoid him right now."

And Bruce _does understand_. It's Betty's way of giving him closure, because who else would be that invested in him but Betty? Her perfume hasn't changed, either.

He clutches the bag tightly to his left side.

Natasha continues, "Clint, we're on paid leave until they determine if our cover was blown or not. What do you want to do?" She leaves no room for him to say that he wants to go off on his own.

Before he can answer, Tony interjects, "Well, hey, why don't you all come back to the Tower with me? Hell, it needs a little goddamn work, but there's plenty of floors that are undamaged. Bruce, you're fucking coming whether you like it or not." He doesn't explicitly say it, but everybody understands that Tony _needs_ the distraction after Pepper left him.

Bruce nods, smiling helplessly. _He_ hasn't been wanted in so long, not by the world, not by SHIELD, not by anyone. It's kind of a nice feeling to have friends again, to have people around him, even if part of him is constantly weighing the risks and danger.

Natasha and Clint share a nonverbal conversation until Clint shrugs one shoulder harshly. Then Natasha berates him in what sounds like Hungarian. Bruce knows a little, knows a little of most languages, actually, and he can pick up a few words. "No...idiot...yes."

Clint's body language shifts to defeated, and Natasha looks Tony in the eye. "Thank you, Tony. We'd be delighted to accept."

"Oh, goodie, it's a real party then! How about you, Steve, want to come spend some quality time with your new team?"

"When you put it like that, how can I resist?" Steve is smiling, and _damn, he's so _young.

"It's all settled then, let's go!" Tony leads them to the parking lot, not stopping to pick up any of the debris left by last minute adjustments to the transportation device.

Bruce sighs and bends over, noticing Steve doing the same. They share a small smile, commiserating over Tony's reckless disdain for New York's public property.

Natasha and Clint wait until they have straightened and the four of them follow Tony, who is hopping up and down on the top of the rise next the the parking lot entrance.

When they get within earshot, they hear "come on, come the fuck on, come _on_" in a seemingly unending litany. It is abruptly silenced by Natasha slipping up behind the billionaire and slapping a hand over his mouth.

It's...nice to see a more playful side to the others, and Bruce cannot help smiling as Natasha frog-marches Tony towards them with her grip on his jaw.

She leads the way to where Bruce had parked the gray car, opening the passenger door and shoving Tony in, shutting the door and leaning her hip on it to keep it shut. Tony's indignant face is visible through the windshield, but he's smiling just a little, and Bruce wonders how long it's been since Tony got to play around.

"Steve, you have the keys for the SUV, right?"

"Yes." Steve ducks his head, not saying 'ma'am' but clearly implying it.

Natasha just rolls her eyes, "Okay, then, you're taking these two," she indicates Bruce and Clint, "back. I've got Stark." Her smile is a little too wide to be benevolent, but Bruce figures that she won't hurt Tony, so he wordlessly turns to follow Steve and Clint to the SUV.

Clint is staring at Natasha stonily as she gets into the driver's side. Bruce doesn't really know him well enough to guess what's bothering him, but he thinks it might have something to do with being banished to the other car.

He's not the only one who notices Clint, and Steve performs a superhuman balancing act with the tools he has in both arms, moving them to one arm so he can put a hand on Clint's back. The supersoldier guides the archer to the SUV.

Once there, Steve reaches into his pocket, pulling out the keys. He eyes the trunk, looking for the slot to put the key in so that he can unlock it.

The SUV, like most modern cars, has none. After a minute of Steve's confusion, Clint snatches the keys from his hand and uses the small remote to open the trunk.

Silently, Clint shows Steve which button to push as Bruce steps forward to unload his burden. He keeps the bag from Betty, though.

Steve puts down his armload, too, and, after a moment of thought, pushes the button on the remote again. The trunk closes automatically, and he beams.

The three look at each other for a minute. The moment is broken by Natasha driving by, calling "Let's go!"

Steve moves around to the driver's side, and Bruce and Clint do the awkward dance of trying to indicate to the other who should ride in the passenger's seat. Steve's door slams shut, and Bruce opens the back door, tripping on the running board. Clint steadies him with a hand under his elbow, a small smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

After Bruce manages to get safely into the vehicle with his bag, Clint slides in next to Steve.

"You sure you know how to drive this thing?" The joke sounds a little forced, but nobody comments on it.

"Yeah, SHIELD sent me to driving school. They just didn't mention how to work those damn remote thingies."

Bruce frowns a little at the mention of SHIELD, but his curiosity is aroused by Steve's comment. "Had you driven before? Oh, uh, I'm sorry, I didn't think..."

"It's fine, Bruce," Steve smiles at Bruce in the rearview mirror, meeting his gaze. "I think we all have pretty clear 'before' and 'after' phases to our lives. Yeah, I had done some driving. New York was a lot like it is today, mostly public transportation and not many cars. I didn't have a license back then or anything. But I learned how to drive an automatic quickly. It's not that different."

Bruce remembers driving a stickshift, and he chuckles a little under his breath. Clint reaches to turn on the radio, and soon Steve and Clint are discussing the music. Bruce is content to listen, only occasionally inserting his input, but he has to laugh when Steve admits who, exactly, is on his 'workout playlist.'

Apparently a SHIELD intern programmed the iPod, but it's still quite amusing that Steve actually listens to the likes of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga.

The conversation flows easily, and Steve is soon turning into the Tower's garage and flipping down the visor to pull out the entry pass.

They park in the only open space on the entire floor and Steve carefully returns the keys to the board before following the others to the door.

He slips around Bruce and Clint, whose hands are full with the contents of the trunk, and opens the door from them.

He pulls several items out of their arms as they walk by him, relieving them of the majority of their burdens.

"You can place those items on the table there, gentlemen. They will be taken back to the lab. Dr. Banner, you can place your bag there as well, it will be taken to wherever you wish."

"Oh, thanks, JARVIS." Bruce answers for the group. "Can you take it to where I slept last night?"

"No, Dr. Banner, that floor has been sealed off for renovations. Mr. Stark will assign you a new room, I am sure."

"Tony sure moves fast," Bruce muses under his breath. "Um, can you just send it there then, please, JARVIS?"

"I can, Dr. Banner."

They unload and then walk to the elevator. "Mr. Stark and Agent Romanoff are in the kitchen on the sixty-seventh floor."

"Thank you, JARVIS," Steve answers.

* * *

Tony is in the kitchen with his back to the door, an apron tied around his waist. Natasha is perched on the countertop next to the sink, swinging her legs.

She sees them walking up, but says nothing.

When Tony turns around to see that the population of the kitchen has doubled, he jumps. Clint snickers as he edges around the utensil-wielding billionaire to Natasha's side. She pats his arm twice, gently at first, then turns it into a swat.

"Go wash your hands and help Tony."

"What? Why aren't _you_ helping?"

"I _am_ helping," she points to a neatly chopped stack of vegetables at her side. "It's not my fault that he's a slow cook."

"Hey! I am not!" Tony answers indignantly, pointing the utensil Bruce has yet to identify at her.

"C'mon, Clint, let's go." Steve turns to walk to the bathroom down the hall, Bruce and Clint following behind.

When they get there, Steve walks in and Clint follows. They quickly discover that the bathroom is too small for two full-grown men, and there is a lot of awkward laughter as they maneuver around each other to wash their hands. Bruce lingers in the hall, watching them and chuckling.

After they've cleared the bathroom, Bruce washes his hands and follows his nose back to the kitchen. It smells like Italian, and he hasn't had decent Italian in so long.

They manage to cook dinner without any explosions, and with a minimum of stepping on each others' toes. Though, Tony almost makes both things happen.

They eat in a dining room off the kitchen with an excellent view of the New York skyline as the sun sets. It's a very peaceful image, and one Bruce stores in his memory for future meditation.

The dinner conversation is...interesting. He and Tony are...geniuses, Bruce supposes, while Clint and Natasha are bright, and Steve picks up on things quickly.

After they eat, Tony pulls up a building schematic on a screen. His are completely holographic, not like SHIELD's, which had been hybrids, holographs and touch screens.

"Okay, the green areas are the ones 'unsuitable for human habitation' and the red and gold floors are mine. Other than that, pick where you want to stay."

Natasha picks a room and Clint quickly selects the adjacent one on the seventy-fifth floor, directly under Tony's penthouse. Steve points to a room down the hall from the assassins, and Bruce follows his example, picking the room across the hall from Steve.

"Okay, that's settled, then. Time for the kiddies to go to bed," he waves to indicate them, "and me to go play."

"Oh, no, Stark, you're going to bed if I have to put you there myself."

Tony pouts, but Natasha is immoveable. He troops to the elevator with the rest of them, complaining the whole way.

Natasha directs JARVIS to take them to Tony's bedroom first. He gets off, still complaining.

He shuts up when Natasha directs a pointed look at him and tells JARVIS, "Tell me if he doesn't go to bed. Wake me up if you have to, but I want to know."

"Certainly, Agent Romanoff. Oh, and your security clearance from your previous stay with us has been restored."

"Traitor. 'Night, Natalie, boys."

Bruce is missing something here, so he looks to Natasha for an explanation as she presses the button for their floor.

"I went undercover with Stark after he told the whole world his identity. My name was 'Natalie,' then."

Steve and Bruce nod a little, but Clint doesn't. Which makes sense—Clint would have already known that.

The elevator doors open and they call goodnight to each other as they walk into their rooms.

Betty's bag sits on the desk in a fully-furnished room. Somehow he is not surprised that it managed to arrive in the ten or so minutes since he picked his room. Bruce promises himself that he will look through it tomorrow, but it's late and he's too tired for the potential emotional turmoil.

* * *

***hides behind Steve* I'm sorry! It's totally Steve's fault for hogging the whole chapter and making it so that I couldn't fit Thor and Loki in. Blame him!**

**You all are awesome. Tell me what you thought about this one, please! Reviews make me write faster...**


	7. Tidal

**My beta, dysprositos, is seriously awesome. She puts up with my crazy questions and is a colossal help. Thank you!**

* * *

Bruce wakes up the next morning to the sound of increasingly louder bird chirps. He rolls over, "Nguh?"

"I beg your pardon, Dr. Banner, but breakfast is ready."

"Huh? JARVIS?"

"Yes, it is I, Dr. Banner. Do you require assistance?"

"...No. Thanks."

"Very well. Breakfast is being served on the sixty-seventh floor."

"Ugh," Bruce pulls the covers back over his head with a sigh. He hates mornings. But at least JARVIS had chosen a nice alarm clock.

_Oh_. There it goes. Once his brain gets ticking, he can never shut it off.

He rolls out of bed and heads into the bathroom for a shower. When he's done, he pulls on the same pair of pants and a fresh shirt from his bag. He needs to go shopping. Maybe he can borrow some money from Tony?

Dressed, he takes the elevator to the sixty-seventh floor and is immediately assaulted by the smell of sausage and eggs.

In the kitchen, Natasha sits and Tony slumps at the table, while Clint and Steve stand side by side at the stove, flipping omelettes.

After watching for a minute, Bruce realizes that they're trying to outdo each other with crazy tricks.

The sausage is done and on the table, so Bruce grabs a piece and crams the whole thing in his mouth as he walks over to investigate the tea situation.

"Tea's in the cupboard to your left, Bruce, and mugs are above the coffeemaker," Natasha tells him. _Hmm, guess that's in my file. __Still__ freaky, though_.

He finds about five different varieties of tea in the cabinet and settles on chamomile. It's in bags, so he just throws a cup of water in the microwave for two minutes and then dunks the bag in, smiling a little as he smells it.

As good as local blends were, he had missed simple, uncomplicated tea.

He settles into an empty chair at the table on the other side of Tony from Natasha and watches Clint and Steve's acrobatics while he waits for his tea to steep.

Five minutes later, it's done, and he raises the mug to his mouth to take a sip. _Not bad_.

Clint and Steve finish up, and carry over two heaping plates of omelettes.

Natasha stands, snagging Tony's empty coffee cup from the table. She refills it and takes the milk and OJ out of the fridge. Clint hops up to get glasses.

_He's so much more comfortable than he was yesterday. I'm glad he's better. Wonder what's going on, though? I mean, I know PTSD when I see it..._

The sound of his coffee cup being plunked down wakes Tony up, and he grabs for it, practically inhaling the beverage.

Clint and Steve take their seats, and they all dig in. It's a little less frenzied than their last breakfast together, but they're all wolfing down food too fast for conversation.

When they finish, Natasha stands up to clear the plates.

Tony jerks, shooting Natasha a glare. "Ow, hey! Shit, that _hurt_!" But he gets up to help anyway.

Clint and Bruce stand at the same time to leave. When they get to the elevator, Clint asks, "Going to your room?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Uh...Mhm."

Bruce pushes the button for the seventy-fifth floor, secretly a little surprised that Clint would get in an elevator with him, just him. It seems like something a SHIELD agent wouldn't do, because it would be too dangerous. But then again Clint's not a regular agent, is he?

Nevertheless, Bruce is still tense as they ride the elevator up in silence. It doesn't _feel_ like awkward silence, more like they're two men who don't talk much. But it _could_ be uncomfortable silence. He just doesn't know.

He's a little relieved when the doors open and he can escape down the hall to his room, where the bag from Betty awaits. Clint ducks into his own room.

* * *

He locks his door behind him and turns around.

The bag, brown faded leather, sits unobtrusively on his bed, but now that he is going to open it, he's, frankly, afraid.

It has the potential to destroy him, to break him into a thousand little pieces, to make him lose control, to set back everything he's been working for. And he doesn't like feeling helpless.

_Man up, Banner. It's just _Betty_, what could she possibly do?_

The zipper on the bag opens too well, too fast, for it to have not been opened since Betty shut it. Of course SHIELD would have been tampering with his things. He just hopes that Betty knew that, and didn't include anything too personal.

Pulling the bag open, he's surprised to see a piece of equipment. It's familiar, something's niggling at the edges of his brain, but he pulls it out to look at more closely, and sees the folder it was sitting on, so he sets it aside.

It's a thin manila folder, nothing special, but he hesitates to open it, knowing that whatever Betty's put in it will be important.

Steeling himself, he opens it. On top is a slightly faded letter, written on a yellow legal tablet like the ones that Betty had loved to take notes on.

_Dear Bruce,_

_I don't know when you'll get this, if you'll get this, but I have faith that you will. I need to apologize for telling Leonard about you. I know he's the one who tipped the General off. Not that it's important, but we broke up. I've been on a few dates with another researcher from the lab, and I'm happy, Bruce. I'm really happy, and I just hope that you can get to this place someday. You deserve it._

_I refuse to apologize for pushing you, for insisting that I go with you. You needed support, had been carrying your burden by yourself for far too long. I hope that you find a __good __place, __with __people __who__ can share your burden, just a little._

_I always will love you, you know. Take care of yourself. You're a good man, Bruce, and don't let anyone tell you differently. I'll kick their ass myself._

_Love, Betty_

_PS: Seventeen. Eighty-four. Ninety-six._

God_damn_. Bruce is dumbfounded. He knows that she thinks highly of him, but this? Wow.

He doesn't know what to say, how to feel. Emotions are surging, rising in him like a whirlpool. He tries to resist, futilely trying to swim against the current.

The task is an impossible one, but he thinks with a little push...

He groans out, "Help..."

Ten seconds later, the door goes flying inward and Clint is bending over where Bruce is curled into himself on the floor.

"Bruce? Hey, Bruce, look at me. Watch my chest. Breathe with me. In, out. In, out." Clint continues the soothing chant, and Bruce helplessly follows along.

He shrinks back down a little, and Clint takes his hands, puts them flat on the archer's chest, keeping up the soothing, steady breathing.

Down the hall, the elevator dings, and the others rush into the room. Seeing that Clint has it under control, Natasha hangs back by the gaping door frame.

Steve and Tony crowd in, dropping down on either side of Clint. Steve looks like he wants to pull the others away, take on the Hulk himself, but Tony stops him.

"Fuck, Steve, look, it's okay. See? Clint's got it under control."

Steve rocks back on his haunches, evaluating the situation. Satisfied that Steve won't be doing anything rash, Tony reaches forward and cards his fingers through Bruce's hair.

Normally, Bruce would find this invasive, but Tony's doing it just right, and Bruce's mother used to do this sometimes, and it's soothing, and Tony's got his other hand on Clint's chest to match his breathing with the scratching and it just feels so _good_.

Under the influence of the combined stimuli, Bruce calms down. Once he's _certain_ that he's in control of himself, he takes his hands off Clint's chest and pulls away from Tony minutely.

Internally, he's freaking out, because the bag did what he thought it would, it made him lose control, put him in danger of hurting people. He should go, leave now and take himself far, far away from people, but Tony had asked him to stay and Bruce is a sucker for people in need. He's disappointed in himself for allowing the emotions out, for almost surrendering to the force, but he can't dwell on this now.

Tony, to his credit, takes his hand away immediately, backing off. Steve takes the opposite approach, getting in Bruce's face, scrutinizing him. This _is_ invasive, but Bruce permits it because he knows Steve means well.

Steve apparently sees what he's looking for, or more accurately, a lack of what he's looking for, because he shifts, pulling back, turning to look at Clint.

"What the hell was that, Barton?"

"That was me _doing my job_, Rogers. Now get the hell out of my way." He stands and starts for the door, head held high. "Oh, sorry about the door, Tony, Bruce."

He leaves and Natasha casts a look at Tony, a silent _do something_, before following her partner.

Bruce gets shakily to his feet. Tony pops up next to him and wraps an arm under Bruce's armpits, supporting him as they walk to the bed. Bending to put Bruce on the edge of the mattress, Tony spies the equipment sitting on it.

"What are you doing with one of these?" Tony asks, picking it up.

"Stark. We have more important things to deal with than...that, whatever-it-is."

"Oh, yeah, like what, Capsicle?"

"Like why we got an emergency call that Dr. Banner was about to have an 'incident.'"

Tony waves an airy hand. "Oh, that. Unimportant. All's well that ends well."

"_What_? How could you be so irresponsible? He could have _hurt somebody_!"

"But he _didn't_, damn it."

Bruce feels a little confused, sitting in the middle of an argument about him. He figures he should speak up.

"Uh, guys? I'm right here, you know? I'm sorry, Captain, I just got some...unexpected news. It unsettled me. I can leave if you want," he gets up and starts to pick up the few personal things he has scattered around the room. The look on Steve's face is making him nervous, it's military and all the things that terrify Bruce, and he can't help but want to _run_.

"No, absolutely not, Bruce. Sit your ass back down. Steve, you're overreacting. Stop being such a fucking, narrow-minded idiot and _open your goddamn eyes_. Bruce is a _person_. He deserves to be emotional. He shouldn't have to keep it all bottled up inside just because he's got a 'condition.'"

Tony's quiet declaration awes Bruce, who looks up at the billionaire, stunned.

Steve's also stunned. But not for the same reasons, it would seem. "I'm going out for a while."

"Good riddance," Tony hollers after the retreating supersoldier. Under his breath, he adds, "Bastard."

"Uh."

"I meant what I said, you know. You're a _good person_, Bruce."

"Thanks." Bruce doesn't know quite what to say. The way Tony echoes Betty is almost eerie, and the disbelief Bruce is feeling at his words is almost the same.

"So, what _are_ you doing with a Japanese puzzle box? Hell, I haven't seen one of those in years..."

"That's what it is?"

"Yup. Pretty well disguised, but it's definitely one."

"Uh, how does it work?" Bruce is glad for the distraction, to have something to focus on other than his emotional turmoil.

"There's a sequence of numbers that you have to follow. Was there anything with it?"

Bruce realizes Betty's letter got pushed under a piece of furniture in all the commotion, which is good. He doesn't want to share something that...personal.

"I've got this, Tony, thanks."

"Okay, sure, whatever. I'll move you onto one of my floors, away from Captain-Stick-Up-His-Ass."

"Oh, that won't be necessary, there's another room down the hall. Steve doesn't bother me. I've heard worse." To be honest, Steve _does_ bother him, but Bruce figures he needs to start working through his issues with the military sooner rather than later, especially if he's going to be staying around here. Which, according to Tony, he is. For now.

"That's fucked up, Bruce, but have it your way. Just have JARVIS call me if you need anything."

"Um, sure, thanks, Tony."

The billionaire's footsteps disappear down the hall. Finally alone, Bruce drops to his hands and knees, searching for Betty's letter.

It's under the armoire. He folds it so that only the 'PS' is visible, and sits on the edge of the bed with the box on his lap.

Turning it over in his lap, he finds the starting point. Ten minutes later, he's got it open, using the numbers at the bottom of the letter.

Inside is a post-it note wrapped around a key. The note is an address, and Bruce quickly memorizes it. He shreds the note and flushes away the pieces. He really should do the same with Betty's letter, but now that the initial shock has passed, he's quite...fond of the note. He doesn't want to read it again, but the general sentiment it expresses makes him warm inside. It's not an unpleasant sensation at all.

The key goes in with his spare pair of socks, and he grabs the manila folder to see if there's anything else in it.

All it contains are specs for the "tool" that Betty made him. He reads them carefully, just in case, but he sees no hidden message.

He puts the pages back in the folder and shuts up the box securely, putting them back in the bag.

Betty's letter is folded up and tucked into a rip in the lining of the bag containing his clothes. It's not the best hiding place, and he needs to find a better one, but he's feeling exposed right now in this room with the door open, and he wants to move.

Packing up the few things he had unpacked, he picks up the two bags and walks down the hall to the room on the other side of Natasha's.

Secretly, he's a little glad for the distance from Steve. He's the exact opposite of Bruce, the good that came out of Project Rebirth. Bruce is nothing more than the Red Skull in another form, a monster who never should have survived his own creation.

He wonders if Steve's thought about it like that.

Bruce puts his two bags down in the new room and turns to leave. He knows that being alone with his thoughts right now is not a good idea, it never is after an 'incident,' knows it will lead to him doing something he'll regret, so he asks, "JARVIS, where's Tony?"

"Mr. Stark is in his lab on the seventy-seventh floor."

"Thanks."

"Oh, Dr. Banner? Captain Rogers is returning. He's asking for you. May I disclose your location?"

"Um, sure. I'll just wait here for him, I guess."

"I'll tell him, Dr. Banner. And I've alerted Agent Romanoff."

"Oh, you don't have to do that..." Bruce trails off, realizing that Natasha may be needed to diffuse a situation, if one arises. Goodness knows, he's not going to be much use himself.

He sits on the bed and waits.

Three minutes later, Steve walks down the hall, a determined set to his jaw.

"Bruce. I'm sorry. I overreacted. Tony's right. I just... I don't like having danger around the people I'm responsible for and being helpless. But, you're one of my charges, and I forgot that. What I said was completely uncalled for. Can you forgive me?"

Bruce smiles. "Of course I can, Steve. But I don't think it's me you need to be apologizing to. Clint was just trying to help."

Steve's face tightens. "I know. Friends?" He offers his hand to shake.

Bruce accepts. He follows Steve down the hall. Steve knocks at the door of Clint's room, and Bruce keeps walking. He is an _expert _at minding his own business.

He presses the button for the elevator. Natasha slips up next to him while he waits.

"Going to see Tony?"

"Yeah."

"Can I come?"

"Sure."

They don't speak again, but when they arrive in Tony's lab, he does enough talking for all three of them.

* * *

A few days later, the tension is mostly gone. Tony and Steve had another huge fight, but Natasha and Bruce meditated after Clint blew his top at the two quarrellers.

Currently, they're all having lunch outside on the balcony off the sixty-seventh floor.

Tacos are plentiful, and everyone's crunching away happily, playfully battling each other for the salsa. Apparently, they all like spicy food. Tony and Clint have to stick to the 'medium' heat, but Natasha, Bruce, and Steve have abandoned the 'hot' in favor of the 'extreme' heat.

Tony keeps stealing bites of Natasha's taco salad only to flush when the salsa hits his tongue. Natasha has a piece of bread close by that she breaks into chunks and hands to Tony to cut the heat.

Clint's still a little awkward around Steve, after the supersoldier so clearly challenged his judgement, but they're nevertheless sitting side-by-side, chatting about fighting techniques.

Bruce is content to watch his team. His melancholy has passed, and he's enjoying his time with the team, though he misses Thor. But he supposes Thor will be back someday.

That day comes a lot quicker than he had thought it would, as a flash of lightning streaks out of the clear sky, striking the balcony in the open observation area.

His eyes clear, revealing Thor standing there with Mjölnir raised in a protective stance. The person behind him is blocked from their view until the demigod twists to soothe him, setting down the Tesseract device as he turns.

It's Loki. Everybody seated at the table is on their feet in a millisecond. Natasha shoves Tony behind her as she produces a gun from nowhere, the billionaire fumbling with the bracelets on his wrists.

Clint pulls a bow from under the table with a snap, slinging the quiver over his shoulder, an arrow trained under Thor's arm, on Loki.

Steve is simply crouched, hands up in a boxing stance.

Bruce backs away, struggling for calm. He focuses on the expression on Thor's face to ground himself. Thor does not look threatening, just determined, and Bruce concentrates on that.

At the sight of the weapons, and the Iron Man suit flying up over the railing, Loki shrinks back, the bags in his hands dropping to the floor with an audible 'thud.'

Thor looks torn, wanting to maintain his stance but wanting to comfort Loki. Defensiveness wins out, and he turns back to face the others, raising his empty hand in a gesture of supplication.

He doesn't see Loki back up perilously close to the railing, absolutely petrified. A whimper escapes as he stares at his brother's back, the weapons pointed at him, the others' faces.

Clint throws down his bow and runs forward after the noise registers, dodging Steve's grabbing hand, getting between Loki and the railing, hands up in the universal gesture of _I won't hurt you_.

Loki stops, whipping around to stare at the archer. He cocks his head and slowly raises his arms, mirroring Clint. The archer smiles at him, careful to not show too many teeth.

Tony lowers his hand and raises his faceplate before the rest of the armor comes off, moving back to the corner, out of the way.

Natasha lowers her gun, tucking it into her waistband, easily reachable.

Steve straightens. Thor relaxes, and bends at the waist to place Mjölnir on the ground. Loki backs up, eyes on Clint, until he bumps into Thor, who smiles and wraps an arm around his brother.

"Greetings, friends. We have returned from Asgard," Thor states, quite unnecessarily in Bruce's opinion.

"Yeah, we can see that," Tony snarks.

"_Tony_. Hello, Thor. Um, is Loki okay?" Steve asks.

"Friends, I would like you to meet Loki, my brother, prince of Asgard. The being whom you met before was not my brother, but a sorcerer of the Chitauri race who had taken Loki's form. Due to unavoidable circumstances, Loki...fell off the Bifrost Bridge, which led to the means of traveling between worlds."

There's something Thor's not telling them here, but Bruce doesn't have the focus to figure it out right now.

"You should really put railings on that thing, you know."

"Tony, don't interrupt. Sorry, Thor, please continue."

"Loki was captured by the Chitauri, who tortured him and then used his form to attempt conquest of Earth, which was then to lead to conquest of Asgard."

"Why him?" Natasha inquires.

"We are not wholly sure, Natasha. All that we do know is that the threat appears to be vanquished now. Loki was not adjusting well to his release from captivity in Asgard, where we are a warrior people. Any time he saw a weapon, he shrank from it. The Allfather suggested that I bring him to Earth, in hopes that you could help him. _Can _you help us?"

The story has moved Steve, who is quick to step forward. "Of course, Thor. We'll do anything we can. Hello, Loki. My name is Steve. It's nice to meet you."

The tension has leeched out of the air, and Bruce feels safe enough to step forward. "Good to see you again, Thor. Hi, Loki. I'm Bruce," he ducks his head and shuffles back towards the door.

Natasha and Clint follow suit, and Loki actually walks over to Clint and touches one of the dark circles under his eyes with the tip of a finger and a curious look.

Clint doesn't flinch, and he tells the demigod, "I was tortured, too. And, uh, I don't sleep so well now."

Tony, who has been bouncing on the balls of his feet, adds, "I'm Tony. Can we move this party inside? We're going to have to figure out some way to explain this to the Cyclops, you know. He's _not_ going to be happy."

Steve walks over to pick up the Æsir's bags, and Thor slides Mjölnir into his belt, leading Loki forward after Steve, the others trailing behind.

Inside, they arrange themselves on the furniture, preparing to talk.

* * *

**So, I'll trade you. I give you Thor and Loki, you give me reviews. Please?**


	8. Turbulence

**Credit to whoever came up with the idea of Thor and Loki having Allspeak. If I find out who exactly you are, I will name you.**

**My fantastic beta, dysprositos, not only put up with my crazy this chapter, but greatly improved Bruce. You're awesome.**

**WARNING: graphic reimagining of character death. More on this at the bottom.**

* * *

Although his friends have relaxed their offensive stances and lowered their weapons, Thor still keeps Mjölnir close at hand. Loki's safety is paramount to his feelings of loyalty towards the others.

They sit in the living room in a tense silence. Loki is pressed up against Thor's side on the loveseat, and the others are scattered over the remaining furniture. Bruce sits across the room, his hands clenched tightly together.

He looks worried, and Thor wants to speak to him, but he can only handle one problem at a time and Loki is his priority, _must_ be his priority.

Steve breaks the quiet, "What are you hoping to get out of this, Thor? You have to know this isn't going to be easy."

"I do know, Steve. But I want _my brother_ back. I will do anything to achieve this goal." His diction is relaxing from the stern formality he had adopted when they landed on the balcony, but it's not back to where it was on his last trip to Earth.

"Okay. We can work with that. Tony, do you mind if they stay here?"

"Not at all. Got a whole floor just for the two of them. Security is top-notch."

"Why do we need 'top-notch' security, Tony?"

"Because Director Fury is going to want Loki. Doppelganger or no doppelganger, he wants a whipping boy. And your brother fits the bill."

"Have care how you speak about Loki." Thor's hand tightens around Mjölnir.

Tony raises his hands. "Easy, now. That's not what I think about this, but it _is_ what Fury and other people are going to think. The doppelganger made a lot of enemies."

Thor sighs, "I know. But how could they suspect _him_," he gestures to Loki, "of this villainy? He scarcely looks capable of wielding his own utensils at dinner!"

"I know, Thor. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we want to help. Right?"

"Sure thing," Clint's putting on a front, Thor can tell, despite the archer's best efforts at appearing casually confident. Thor supposes that the damage wrought by the imposter will not be easy for Clint to overcome. His reaction to Loki has cooled considerably since they came inside.

"Of course," Natasha's voice is warmer, and she looks concernedly at Loki.

Bruce says nothing, just wrings his hands. After a minute, everybody except Loki gives him a _look_, like 'answer the damn question already.'

Under the combined force of their stares (and Thor hates to pressure the scientist, but he must know), Bruce says shortly, "Yes." His gaze flickers back down to his hands.

"Okay, then, people!" Tony claps his hands together. "I say that we should tell the Cyclops ASAP. He'll be ten times more pissed if he finds out that we kept this from him."

"I agree with Tony," Natasha asserts. "I think we should tell him today. Right now, even."

Steve ponders for a minute, before effectively closing the discussion, his voice hard. "Let's. Tony can you connect a video call? Thor, you might want to take Loki out of the room. I can almost guarantee that Fury will scare him. Bruce? Are you okay?"

"Sure thing. JARVIS?" Tony moves to the wall, typing furiously on a tablet.

Thor is shifting Loki, trying to convince him to let go of Thor and rise, when Bruce answers.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. Do you need me for anything?" Bruce doesn't like dealing with Fury, will do just about anything to avoid it. He's like Steve, very military. And for all that Bruce is technically more physically powerful than the man, Fury makes him feel like one of those ants that Loki...no, the doppelganger had been talking about. Especially after Fury threw the Hulk cage into the equation.

"No, but can you go with Thor and Loki? Loki needs to start getting used to us, and you're the least scary."

Bruce gives a tiny, almost inaudible snort of disbelieving laughter.

Thor shoots Bruce a quick, questioning look (_What could possibly be funny_?) before proposing, "Actually, Steve, could Bruce take Loki? I would like to speak to Director Fury myself."

"Um, are you sure that's the best idea?" Because maybe he wouldn't do _anything_ to avoid the director. _Is putting me with the 'puny god' lookalike going to end well for _anybody_?_

"It'll be fine, Bruce," Tony hollers from the corner, not even breaking his frenetic pace on the keyboard.

"That's probably a good idea." Steve sounds a little relieved, like he's glad he doesn't have to explain the whole thing by himself.

"Hear that, Loki? You're going to go with my friend Bruce. He's going to get you a snack. Perhaps something sweet..." Loki is fond of desserts, and Thor guesses that they have something that would appeal to him on hand.

Well, it would appear that Bruce has no choice in the matter. Steve has spoken.

Loki's face brightens a little at the mention of food, and he unwinds himself, grabbing Thor's hand and tugging.

Thor smiles, leading Loki over to Bruce, who has moved to hover awkwardly near the doorway. Thor reaches out and takes the scientist's hand. It is shaking, ever so slightly.

He carefully locks eyes with the scientist, trying to look as reassuring as possible. "I think Loki is hungry. He has a bit of a sweet tooth," Thor winks.

"Oh, um, thank you. Loki? Let's go to the kitchen."

Loki looks questioningly at Thor who nods. "Go on, brother." He gives Bruce's hand one last squeeze before he releases the scientist. Truthfully, Bruce is the only other 'Avenger' Thor would trust with Loki at this moment. He is the most compassionate out of all of them.

Snatching Bruce's hand, Loki walks through the door. Bruce looks surprised, but he curls his fingers around Loki's ever so slightly.

Thor turns back to the others. "Are we ready, Tony?"

"As we'll ever be, Point Break."

"You need to explain that reference to me, one of these days."

Steve nods in agreement before he grows serious. "Everybody, stand where Tony tells you to. For the love of God, Tony, no jokes. We don't want to piss him off any more than we are already going to."

Clint and Natasha have almost identical stoic expressions. Tony points to an area in front of the TV mounted on the wall, his own serious expression falling into place.

Thor hangs back, unsure, but Steve motions him forward. "Better get in the picture now. Fury'll have questions, and the sooner we get this over with, the better. Tony?"

Tony swipes his fingers over a tablet in his hand, before he tucks the device in his pocket. The TV screen reads 'calling.'

They are arranged in a loose semi-circle, facing the screen, when it flashes blue. Then, Director Fury's face fills the screen.

"Stark." He is not looking at them, instead at something in his hands, and has not noticed Thor or the others yet.

"Actually, Director Fury, it's all of us. And Thor. He's back from Asgard." Steve is attempting diplomacy, but after Thor's previous interaction with Fury, he sincerely doubts its effectiveness.

"What?" Fury looks at the screen then.

"Director Fury." Thor attempts to make his voice sound as hard, as impassable, as possible.

"What do _you_ want? I thought you were gone, back to Asgard with your traitor brother, to have daddy put him in time out."

Thor draws in a breath to...explain? cuss Fury out? throw insults at him? He's not really sure, but Natasha beats him to it.

"хуй тебе," she spits. Thor's Allspeak translates it to an offensive term, something about Fury's anatomy.

Steve raises a hand to calm her, and she quiets but continues glaring balefully at the director.

"Director Fury, Thor is our ally. We should treat him with respect." Steve's attempt to correct the director is appreciated, but Thor doubts it will do the conversation much good.

And it doesn't, as Fury's face darkens and he fixes Steve with his best glare. "_Don't_ tell me how to do _my_ fucking job, Rogers."

It's clear they're getting nowhere, and they still haven't addressed the relevant issue, so Thor's getting ready to intervene, hashing out a speech, when Tony, of all people, speaks up.

"Look, Fury. We called you for two reasons. One, to tell you that Thor was back. We've done that. And two, to tell you that Thor did not come back alone. The villain who attempted to subjugate the human race was _not_ Thor's brother, Loki, but a sorcerer using his identity. Thor has brought the real Loki back after rescuing him from his Chitauri torturers. We are going to help them." Tony speaks clearly but quickly, so fast that Fury cannot interrupt.

If Fury's coloring was alarming before, it looks practically deadly now. "WHAT?" he bellows.

"I believe you heard me."

"Stark, shut the fuck up. I don't know if this is your sick idea of a joke, but just can it. It's not funny. Thor, why are you really here?"

"Tony has told you. I seek to heal my brother from his torture."

"And you fell for this? Rogers? Barton? Romanoff? It's a line of bullshit! Obviously Loki has brainwashed Thor!" Fury is shouting, spittle flying from his lips.

"It's the truth," Natasha's reassurance is quiet but firm.

Clint simply nods, arms crossed over his chest. His face is tight, presumably from being reminded of his time with the imposter.

Steve maintains, "Thor is telling the truth, Director. We wanted to let you know. That's all," he moves to shut the TV off, to end the call.

"This _isn't_ over! You're harboring a wanted criminal! HILL!"

Steve presses the off button firmly, and Tony moves over to disconnect it from the wall, motioning for silence until he is finished.

"Fuck, I didn't think it would go _that_ badly."

"What is _wrong_ with Director Fury? He wasn't like this when I first met him..." Steve trails off.

"He's always been like this with his subordinates, Steve. You should see how he treats Agent Hill," Natasha answers. "He must have been trying to win you over. You're not obligated to work for anyone, so he would have been trying to recruit you before anyone else could."

Tony whirls around from where he has been looking over...something on his tablet before Steve can answer. "He's a manipulative _bastard_. Look at this," he gestures, and a picture goes flying from his hand to hover above the coffee table.

They all cluster around, and Tony presses 'play.'

A video, slightly blurry, begins. It's Agent Coulson, slumped on the ground. About two seconds in, Fury moves into view, crouching over the fallen agent.

There is no sound, but Fury's body language doesn't _look_ aggressive, not like it just had during their...conversation, for lack of a better word.

Then, Fury makes a shooing motion, and all of the medics and agents in the room leave.

Fury's face twists once they are gone, and he pulls a short knife from under his coat, and viciously stabs downward.

Coulson's face goes slack. Natasha mutters something incomprehensible, and Clint gasps, reaching blindly out for the first source of comfort he can find.

Steve grips Clint's hand just as hard as Clint holds his.

The video wavers, and then changes location, moving to a locker room. Fury stalks in through the doors, throwing open a locker and rifling through its contents. He pulls out a box, and Natasha identifies it quietly.

"Coulson's trading cards."

The video switches back to the cell room, where Coulson's body lies. Fury kneels next to the body and pulls the box open carelessly, opening Coulson's jacket and dropping the cards near his wound, which still bleeds sluggishly.

The head of SHIELD pokes at the cards and makes sure they're bloody before standing.

His expression returns to composure, away from the deranged ferocity it had shown, and the view changes again, to a conference room where Steve and Tony wait.

Tony runs a hand down the middle of the image, and it dissipates.

"H-how did you even _get_ that?" Steve queries.

"I put a bug in the video call, so that when Fury accepted it, he let me into the SHIELD mainframe. I wouldn't put it past him to try to do the same thing; that's why I unplugged the TV. I checked the list of things that had been deleted in the last week or so, and this was on the top. He tried to cover his tracks, but nothing electronic is ever deleted permanently."

Natasha and Clint are ashen, Clint still holding onto Steve's hand. His knees start to buckle, and Steve helps him to the couch.

Tony steers Natasha over, putting her next to her partner. He, too, looks upset, but it appears that he is trying to bury it so that he can deal with the issue at hand.

Thor wants to go check on his brother, but he trusts that JARVIS would have alerted them to any problem. He decides to stay with the assassins, who are just coming out of their shock.

"What the _fuck_, Nat? How could he _do _that?"

"I don't know, Clint. But, I do know that I'm _done_. You?"

"You even have to ask?" Clint laughs shakily.

"You two are quitting? Good. Me too." Steve adds his support.

"Same here. Thor, you don't officially work for SHIELD, do you?"

"No, I don't. Why?"

"Because that means you don't have any ties to sever. We all do. We need lawyers. But first, Natasha, Clint, Steve. Is there anything you want from SHIELD? Possessions, weapons, whatever? Anything of yours?"

"Nothing irreplaceable," Natasha responds.

Steve nods his head in agreement. "Clint?" he asks.

"Same. Just...God. Why?"

"Okay, that's settled. Let me get some lawyers lined up, just in case, and then we'll go in. Resign. Should we try to get Hill out? Doesn't seem like she deserves this..."

"No," Natasha answers decisively. "She's tough. Besides, I don't just want to _quit_, I want to take Fury down. And she's his logical successor."

"Okay, makes sense. We can do that. I've got some phone calls to make... Can someone fill Bruce in? Oh, and Thor, if I'm not back for a while, you and Loki are on the 74th floor. JARVIS will show you where everything is."

"Thank you, Tony." Thor inclines his head respectfully.

Tony exits the room purposefully.

"Well, let's go tell Bruce and check on Loki. We should get him settled in. I think we're going to need more help with him. Anybody have any suggestions on who to ask?" Steve suggests, practically.

"I can call my friends Jane and Darcy."

"Okay. Why don't you do that?"

"I would like to see my brother first, please."

"That's fine, Thor." Steve responds.

The four of them walk down the hall to the kitchen, where Loki is perched on the counter, swinging his legs a little, eating a cookie.

Bruce leans against the counter by the sink, watching Loki.

When Loki sees Thor, he jumps down and runs over to his big brother. The smaller demigod offers his half-eaten cookie, and Thor takes it from his fingers carefully, uncaring of the eyes on them.

After he finishes chewing, he says, "I hope you ate something other than cookies, brother."

Bruce answers, "He did. I didn't figure he would like knives too much, so I got him some cold chicken and rice out of the fridge. That was his sixth cookie, though. I said we would have to ask you if he could eat anymore."

On cue, Loki blinks up at Thor. Thor is surprised to see Loki act so freely around the others, as he had not been this open on Asgard.

"You may have two more, Loki. Thank you for caring for him, Bruce." On impulse, Thor follows that up with a hug, thanking the scientist through the strength he uses. Bruce is not shaking anymore, Thor is pleased to note. After a moment, the scientist's arms tentatively come up around Thor's shoulders. Thor is glad that his back is to the rest of the room so that none of the others can see his pleased smile.

"Bruce, can you come to the living room? We need to talk to you..."

"Actually, I'm going to my room. Coming, Tasha?" Clint interjects.

"No, I'm going to stay with Steve, to explain."

Bruce walks across the kitchen to follow Steve, handing Thor the cookie package as he passes.

They leave, Steve, Natasha, and Bruce turning back to the living room, Clint heading down the hall towards the elevator.

Thor opens the cookie package, and gives Loki one. He sits on a stool, observing Loki.

They sit quietly, the only sound in the kitchen Loki's chewing. He comes over and asks for a second cookie by putting his hand out and giving Thor a small look reminiscent of the one he used as a child when he wanted something. It looks out of place on his adult face.

After Thor hands the cookie over, he stands. "JARVIS, where do these others go?"

"In the second cabinet to your right, Master Thor."

Thor puts the cookie package away and picks up the plate next to where Loki had been sitting, taking it over to the sink and running water over it.

They stay in the kitchen, waiting. Thor doesn't want to leave Loki alone, nor does he want to expose his brother to Fury's violence.

After about five minutes of staring at each other, Tony breezes into the kitchen.

"It's all settled with the suits. Here, Thor, JARVIS said you needed this," he hands over Thor's cell phone. "Updated, just like I said it would be."

"Thank you, Tony!"

"No problem, Point Break. I'm going to go see what's going on in there."

"Okay."

Tony leaves. Thor dials Jane's number and raises the phone to his ear. Loki looks curious, so Thor smiles, a silent promise to explain later.

After three rings, Darcy answers. "Jane Foster's phone, Darcy Lewis speaking."

"Hello, Darcy! This is Thor, may I speak with Jane?" Their last parting had been...not on the best of terms, but Darcy is Jane's subordinate, so he figures he should start with Jane.

"Thor? Hey! Um, sure, just give me a minute." A thud can be heard as she sets the phone down. Thor can hear her talking to Jane in the background.

"Hello, Thor?"

"Hello, Jane. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Look, I'm kinda busy, can you make it quick?"

"Of course. I need your help, and I wonder if you could come to New York. I'll explain when you get here, I don't want to do it over the phone."

"Sorry, Thor, but no. I'm on the verge of a breakthrough here, and I can't leave it. Good luck, bye!"

The phone is passed back to Darcy. "Whoa, sorry, she's in single-minded-scientist mode right now. Can _I_ help you?"

"Yes, Darcy. Can _you_ come to New York? I'll explain when you get here."

"Sure! I need to get away from the science freak anyway. Um, I need a ticket or something, I don't have enough dough to buy one myself."

"I'll have to get back to you on that. Can you pack and be ready to go? I'll call you right back."

"On my phone, please. Science queen can answer her own damn phone."

"Very well, Darcy. Thank you."

"No, thank _you_, Thor. Talk to you in a few."

She hangs up. _Obviously Jane is still bitter. But Darcy is coming, and she will be a welcome addition._

"JARVIS, can you tell the others that Loki and I are coming in?"

"Of course, Master Thor."

"Come on, Loki, let's go see our friends."

Loki obediently follows behind Thor, and the brothers walk to the living room.

The others sit close together, tension clear in the lines of their bodies.

"I just talked to my friend Darcy, and she says she can come to help."

"Did you tell her what for?" Steve asks.

"No, I said I would explain when she arrived. However, I need some way for her to get here. She cannot afford a ticket."

"I can handle that. Should we send someone to travel with her? If Fury gets wind of it, there's no telling what he'll do," Tony points out.

"Clint and I will go," Natasha asserts.

"Okay, that's settled. How soon can you be ready to leave? I'll send you in my jet," Tony tells her. He starts typing something into his phone. "The pilots are on their way."

"Thirty minutes. And we'd prefer to fly ourselves."

"Okay, I'll tell them."

Natasha leaves the room. Thor sits in the empty space left next to Bruce, and calls Darcy.

"'Lo?"

"Darcy, Tony Stark is sending his jet out to get you. Agents Barton and Romanoff are coming to see to your safety."

"I get an escort? Cool! And a _jet_? Hot damn, I've hit the big time for sure!"

"Well, I'll see you later. Thank you!"

"Bye."

Thor sets the phone on the table.

"Okay, that's done. Now, we need to do something about clothes. Thor, you can't wear armor all the time. And does Loki have anything else to wear? Those pants don't look too comfortable..."

"I brought my casual clothes, and another outfit for Loki. However, I would appreciate wearing some of your type of clothing, and I believe Loki will as well."

"We can do that, we just need your measurements."

Bruce speaks up. "I, uh, I need some clothes too, please. Can I borrow some money, Tony?"

"You don't need to ask, Bruce, of course you can. And it's not _borrowing_. Nobody _borrows_ from Tony Fucking Stark. So, shopping's on the agenda. Steve, how are you situated? Need anything?"

He shrugs. "I could use another pair of shoes, maybe?"

"'Course. Everybody make a list, and put your size, measurements, whatever down. Thor, we can take yours and Loki's in a bit. I'll send out a couple employees for clothes later on today."

"Thank you, Tony." Steve is always polite.

"Well, let's take you two to your new rooms. Where are your bags?"

"I left them over behind that couch," Steve points.

"Okay, let's go!"

Thor picks up a bag, and Steve gets the other. Tony leads them down to the elevator, Bruce and Loki trailing along after the others.

"Um, Tony, do you think the elevator's such a good idea? It might scare Loki," Bruce says.

"Good point. I knew I kept you around for a reason. Stairs are over here, let's go."

Thor climbs the stairs after Loki, so that in case his brother trips he can catch him. Loki is usually graceful, but the way he is now, Thor doesn't want to take any chances.

Tony opens the door marked '74' and ushers the procession inside.

"Here we go. A whole floor just for the two of you. Bedroom's through here, come on."

There are two beds in the room, pushed close together, and Thor wonders how Tony had known. The man _is_ a genius, he supposes.

"Where do the rest of you sleep?"

Tony replies, "I'm on 80, and everybody else is just one floor up from you."

"Let's leave them to get settled," Steve suggests. Bruce starts for the door obediently, and Tony follows suit.

"Ask JARVIS if you need anything, okay?"

"I will, Tony. Thank you, all of you."

The three men nod, and leave.

"Well, Loki, what do you think?"

But of course Loki doesn't answer.

* * *

хуй тебе (Russian) loosely translates to 'you dick,' 'fuck you,' or 'go fuck yourself,' according to Google.

* * *

**Coulson's death is needed to make this work, and we are firmly established in AU at this point. That said, I'm fucking thrilled for Clark Gregg to be in the TV show.**

**So, my lovely readers, what do y'all think? I love every bit of your feedback.**


	9. Calm

**Thank you to my fuckawesome beta, dysprositos, who puts up with me (and my crazy) while fixing things.**

* * *

About an hour later, Thor has unpacked their meager belongings, hung up their clothing in the closet, rearranged it twice, pulled his hair up into a ponytail, and paced the perimeter of the bedroom approximately fifty-seven times.

Loki lies on a bed, one arm pillowed under his head, watching Thor make his circuits of the room.

The silence is broken by JARVIS, "Master Thor, Mr. Stark asks that you and Master Loki come to the 67th floor to be measured for your clothing."

"Thank you, JARVIS, we're on our way."

"You're welcome, Master Thor, Master Loki."

At the mention of his name, Loki sits up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He walks through the doorway, heading to the stairs.

Thor gapes, open-mouthed. He has not realized that Loki has such a high awareness of his surroundings. After taking a moment to collect himself, he hurries after his brother, catching up to him at the stairway door.

Loki gives him an impatient look and opens the door, taking the stairs down. Thor follows closely behind.

When Loki has gone down two flights of stairs, he reaches back for Thor's hand, pulling Thor down to climb side by side with him.

At the 67th floor, Thor holds the door for Loki, letting go of his hand in the process, and they walk into the living room. Tony and Steve are in the room, but Thor does not see Bruce. This upsets him, as he was hoping to get the scientist alone for a few minutes while Loki was occupied. He resigns himself to more waiting. It feels like that's all he does, really.

Before he can start feeling too sorry for himself, Tony starts talking. "We need to get your measurements so we can order you two some new clothes. I didn't figure you'd want a stranger doing it, so we," he indicates himself and Steve, "are your friendly attendants for the day. Now, who's first?"

"I'll go first, Tony. And thanks to the both of you." Seeing Loki at ease has made Thor comfortable enough to lapse into the informal diction he prefers.

"Well, step right up. Steve, are you going to need a stool? Guy's fucking huge."

"No, Tony. But you might," Steve's easy smile softens the insult.

"Hey! I resent that! JARVIS, make this rule number one of living in the Tower: no calling me short, short jokes, or anything."

"Very good, Mr. Stark. Would you like flyers printed for you to post around the Tower?" The AI is as snarky as its creator, it would seem.

"You know what? Fuck you, JARVIS." There's no real sting to Tony's words, and Thor recognizes how dynamic the relationship between man and machine must be.

"With what, sir?" JARVIS makes a small noise, almost like a snort.

This is the kind of humor that Thor always enjoyed, sitting around the fire after a successful kill, enjoying his comradeship with Sif and the Warriors Three.

He moves over to punch Tony's shoulder lightly. "I think he has you there, Tony. Now, what do you need me to do?"

"You're all ganging up on me! This is so unfair! Just stand there, Thor, and look pretty."

"Tony!" But Steve's laughing, and Thor doesn't mind. He complies with the order, dramatically flexing his arm muscles.

"Looking good, big guy! But can you take the hammer off your belt? It's gonna get in the way."

"Of course." Thor removes Mjölnir from his belt, but places it nearby.

"And the armor. You're wearing something under there, right?"

"I have clothing on under my armor. It would be uncomfortable, otherwise." Thor starts pulling at straps and buckles, removing the armor until it's in an untidy pile on the floor next to Mjölnir.

In a loose tunic and light pants, he waits for Tony and Steve to begin.

Tony works on his legs, keeping up a running commentary of insults and instructions for Steve, calling out measurements to JARVIS to record. Steve does the same on his upper body, also calling his measurements out.

Thor finds himself enjoying the contact, and he's beginning to relax, letting his mind wander, when he catches movement out of the corner of his eye.

Carefully turning his only his head, he watches Loki walk to the wall, which is composed entirely of windows, and place a palm on the glass, surveying the city below.

Seeing the direction of Thor's look, Tony reassures him, "The glass is virtually unbreakable. I, erm, fixed that after...well, you know what. He's safe, Thor."

"Thank you, Tony." Thor is glad for the reassurance, and he tips his head back, closing his eyes to mere slits, enjoying the feel of others around him.

They finish with Thor's measurements, and Thor straightens, twisting to get the kinks out of his spine. He is about to go fetch Loki over, but Steve gets there first.

"Loki. Hey, it's your turn now. Can you come over here, please?"

Loki obediently turns, walking over and standing where Thor had been. Thor moves to sit on a couch, close by but out of their way.

His brother is compliant, lifting his arms when told to. Tony and Steve are making an obvious effort to not crowd him. They position themselves so that there is always an obvious escape route, so that Loki can easily get away if he wants to.

It's a consideration that makes Thor immensely grateful for his friends. Tony and Steve are nearly done when Bruce slips into the room, standing unobtrusively against the wall, waiting to be noticed.

Thor notices him, and he gets up, keeping one eye on Loki, to go slip an arm around Bruce's shoulders and ask him in a low voice, "Are you okay? You seem a little off..."

"I almost had an 'incident' last week, and Steve's been really suspicious of me ever since. I want to leave, but Tony's asked me to stay. God," Bruce scrapes a hand over his face, "I don't even know _why_ I'm telling you this! Everything is so fucked up."

Thor has not heard Bruce curse, and the uncharacteristic epithet prompts him to look more closely at the scientist's face. Bruce looks haggard, there are dark circles under his eyes. He looks older.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Bruce. Steve can be a bit overbearing at times, right? Is there anything I can do?" Thor wants to help the scientist, who seems so emotionally vulnerable right now, but he too has his problems, his responsibilities.

"He can, yeah." Bruce shrugs dismissively. "I feel better just getting that off my chest. Thank you, Thor."

Thor is about to try and offer more comfort when Tony interrupts. "Hey, Bruce! You got that list for me?"

Bruce steps forward, out from under Thor's arm. "Um, yeah. Here," he waves the paper in his left hand, a small flutter of motion.

"Just put it over there, kay? My hands are a little full at the minute."

"Okay. Um, hi Loki. Steve." Bruce greets the others as he follows Tony's instructions.

"Hello, Bruce. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you for asking. How about you?" Their interaction is stilted, formal, now that Thor knows to look for it. He resolves to do something about this later.

"I'm good. Kinda hungry actually. I'm gonna grab a snack when we're done here."

"Sure, just eat me out of house and home, why don't you, Steve?"

"Hey, I can't help my appetite! Thor eats a ton, too, you know."

"Yeah. Yeah, he does." Tony looks momentarily dismayed as he thinks about his rising grocery bill.

Seeing that Steve is no longer speaking to him, Bruce is attempting to slip out of the room. Thor pushes off the wall and goes over to Bruce, tugging him back across the room to one of the couches. Thor pulls Bruce down so they're sitting next to each other.

Loki sees the interaction, and his eyes blow up wide in recognition, though nobody notices.

Bruce is acquiescent, settling onto the couch next to Thor. Thor will admit to crowding him a little, pushing into the scientist's personal space. Bruce doesn't show any outward sign of minding, though, so Thor settles back fully, throwing an arm over the back of the couch.

Tony and Steve calling out measurements is the only sound audible for several moments, until JARVIS breaks the calm.

"Sir, Ms. Potts is on the phone. She says it is most urgent that she speak to you, a matter of life and death."

"Pepper? Fuck." He stills his hands, pulling back from Loki. "Guys, can you be quiet for a minute? JARVIS, put her through. Voice call only."

"Yes, sir."

"Tony? What the—"

Tony cuts her off. "Pepper. What's up?" His voice is careful, measured, emotionless.

"Tony! Don't you 'what's up' me! What the hell is going on? Why did I just get a call from Director Fury saying that you're all harboring a wanted criminal and refusing to turn him over to the authorities?"

"Probably because we are, Pep. But that's all I can tell you. I don't want to involve you." Tony sounds tired, old.

"Wait, Tony. I know we're broken up, is that why you won't talk to me? Just tell me, please!"

"Hey, we _are _broken up, thanks for the reminder. But it's not that. If you know details, then you're in danger. Fury's not happy, and he's definitely not above resorting to underhanded methods of getting his way. Just, please. Let me do this for you."

"Fine, Tony. Just...remember the company, okay? Don't do anything too crazy."

"I'll do my best, Pep. 'Bye."

"Goodbye."

"JARVIS, end call." Tony sits down heavily on the couch, running a hand down his face.

"Are you okay, Tony?" Steve asks.

"Yeah. Just... Can we not talk about it? Let's just finish."

Clearly, Steve isn't accustomed to just letting things rest. He sighs heavily before replying, "Sure. Loki, can you lift your arm again?"

Loki complies, and Thor turns to Bruce. "Are you hungry, my friend? I am." He doesn't mention Steve's hunger, not wanting to upset the scientist.

"I...could eat, sure."

"Well, let's go to the kitchen. Loki, I'll be right back, okay?"

Loki looks at Thor, and he decides to take that as an answer. He gets up from the couch and Bruce follows, stretching his arms over his head and following Thor to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Thor halts the scientist when he goes to open the refrigerator. "I can do this. I just wanted some company."

"Well...I'm not very good company."

Thor smiles, "You are very good company, Bruce. So tell me, what do you like to do?"

Bruce looks surprised, clearly unused to someone taking any kind of interest in him. "Uh, I like to work. I guess. Tony's given me a lab, and the technology is _amazing_. It's lightyears ahead of what I used the last time I did any work. I've made two new discoveries just in a week..." He continues, science being one of the few things that he can ramble about nearly endlessly. He talks about his findings, Tony's technology, anything but himself, really. His deflection is subtle, and if Thor wasn't so attuned to the scientist, then he would completely not notice it.

Thor listens, making appropriate noises whenever Bruce pauses to breathe, and moves around the kitchen, putting together sandwiches, purposefully making too many. He plans to stick those in the fridge for Steve.

When he finishes with the sandwiches, Thor grabs a bag of chips and slides it, the plate of sandwiches, and a couple napkins onto the table in front of Bruce.

"What do you want to drink?"

"Huh?" Bruce seems surprised to be broken out of his monologue. "Uh, can you just get me a bottle of water?"

"Of course, Bruce." Thor smiles over his shoulder at the scientist.

He gets three bottles of water, two for himself, and settles onto a stool next to Bruce.

"Take as many as you want," he indicates the plate of sandwiches.

"Oh, thanks, Thor! These look really good..." Bruce trails off as he takes a careful bite of his sandwich.

Thor has to hide his smile by taking a bite of his own sandwich. Clearly, the scientist is skeptical of Thor's food preparation skills.

After Bruce swallows, he says, "Oh! That's actually really good!"

Thor can't hold himself back any longer, and he tips his head back and laughs, a good belly laugh. It's been awhile since he's been able to let loose like this, and he's greatly enjoying himself. The ability to make him laugh is also one he looks for in a potential partner. Bruce matches up perfectly with his ideal, and he resolves to do something about this, _soon_, once Loki is recovered.

Bruce's cheeks are red. "What are you laughing at?"

"Oh, Bruce, I am not laughing at you. It's just... You were so obviously skeptical of my cooking abilities, and then you liked it. I don't know why that's as funny as it is, honestly."

Bruce doesn't look very reassured, but he nods and his face slowly starts returning to its normal color. "So, Thor, I've been doing all the talking. What do _you_ like to do?"

_Why am I drawing this out? I should get my food and go, back to the lab, my room, anywhere where it's quiet, calm, safe_, Bruce thinks.

Glad to have Bruce showing interest in him, Thor exuberantly answers, discussing his favorite activities, both Asgardian and those he has been introduced to here on Earth, between bites.

Soon, most of the sandwiches and chips are gone, and Thor's halfway through his second water.

He has been able to engage Bruce in the conversation, and the scientist is animated, gesturing with his hands, trying to illustrate a point.

They're having a friendly disagreement over previous Earth-alien interactions when Steve shepherds Loki into the kitchen.

"We're all done, Thor. Tony's sending your measurements out, and the clothes should be delivered sometime this evening, he says. I'm gonna go down to the gym for a while, and I have no idea what Tony's doing. He wandered off muttering something about wiring under his breath." Steve pauses for breath. "Oh, are you done with those?" He points to the few sandwiches left over.

"I am, how about you, Bruce?" Thor answers.

"Me too."

Steve grabs the plate and shoves one in his mouth practically whole.

Thor notices Loki looking between him and the plate, so he asks, "Hey, Steve, can you give Loki one?"

"What? Oh, sure. Here, Loki." Steve extends a sandwich to Loki, who takes it, and immediately takes a big bite out of it.

"Thanks. Call me if you need me," Steve calls over his shoulder as he leaves the kitchen.

"Hey, thanks for the snack and the conversation, Thor. I'd better go check on Tony. I don't know if he's been sleeping much. Natasha's been sending him to bed at a reasonable hour, but I'm sure he's hidden things to work on in his room. Working on electrical wiring while sleep deprived could get...ugly."

"You're welcome, Bruce. We should do this again sometime," Thor's smile is warm. "That does sound like Tony."

"Yeah. So, um, 'bye."

Bruce walks out of the kitchen. Loki is still eating his sandwich, so Thor calls him over to Bruce's abandoned chair. He puts the bag of chips in front of Loki and gives him the rest of his water.

Loki eats, and then Thor cleans up, putting all of the dirty dishes in the sink and throwing away all of the trash.

They go into the living room, and JARVIS directs them to the game cabinet. After some fumbling and misunderstood instructions, Thor and Loki are playing a silent, intense game of Monopoly. The room is silent, so JARVIS quietly turns on some jazz in the background. Neither brother seems to notice.

* * *

After dinner that evening, Tony, Bruce, Steve, Thor, and Loki settle into the living room to watch a movie.

Thor, Bruce, and Loki's new clothes have been delivered, and Tony insisted that they all change, so Thor is wearing sweatpants and a comfortable gray t-shirt. Loki's outfit is similar, but his shirt is green, and a little too big.

Steve explains that Loki should be gaining some weight, so he should fill out that shirt pretty quickly.

Bruce's clothes are more formal, a pair of soft-looking jeans and a short-sleeved polo shirt. Tony also wears jeans, but he's wearing one of those band shirts of which he is so fond. Steve wears a white t-shirt and khaki pants.

Tony has asked JARVIS for a movie suggestion, and the AI suggests WALL-E. Thor trusts JARVIS to make a choice that would not upset Loki, so he relaxes into the couch, Loki on one side of him and Bruce on the other, both of his arms over the couch back.

The lights dim, and the movie starts playing.

They're about halfway in, and Tony's abandoned his tablet in favor of watching the screen, occasionally hollering suggestions. Loki's enthralled, and Steve and Bruce seem interested as well.

Abruptly, the movie pauses and the lights gradually come back on, slowly, so nobody's eyes are hurt.

"What the hell, JARVIS?"

"My apologies, sir, but Agents Barton and Romanoff are in the elevator on their way up with Ms. Lewis. I assumed you would want to greet them."

"You know what they say about assuming, JARVIS. But in this case, you're right." He stands up, putting his tablet to the side.

Steve's the one to ask the question that Thor is also curious about, as the rest of them rise and walk towards the elevator. "What do you mean about 'assume'?"

"It's a bad joke, Steve. If you break the word down, it comes out to 'ass,' 'u,' and 'me.' People say that assuming makes an ass out of you and me."

JARVIS very helpfully puts up a diagram of the word breakdown next to the elevator doors.

"Oh. _Oh_. That _is_ a bad joke," Steve agrees.

Tony notices the diagram. "Seriously, JARVIS? What's gotten into you lately? Has someone fucked with your programming?" He clears the screen.

"Nobody besides you has accessed my base code, sir."

The elevator doors slide open. Darcy bounds out, rushing over to Thor. He sweeps her up into a hug, spinning her around playfully.

Setting her on her feet, he looks at Clint and Natasha. "Thank you."

"No problem, Thor. We were glad to do it," Natasha answers for the both of them.

"Okay, enough of this gratitude, Thor. What's so important that Tony Fucking Stark had to fly me out here on his own personal jet?"

Loki's been hanging to the back of the group, partially hidden behind Steve. The supersoldier wordlessly steps aside, revealing Thor's brother.

Darcy gasps. "But...isn't that...Loki?"

Not wanting to have this conversation publically, Thor pulls Darcy into the other room. Clint takes this opportunity to step back into the elevator. Steve follows him.

"Darcy, that is my brother, Loki. He was captured by the same race, the Chitauri, who attempted an invasion. One of their sorcerers took his form, as they wanted to use your planet as a stepping-stone to rule mine. My father found out about his capture, and we rescued you, but not until after he had undergone torture. Loki was not adjusting well on Asgard, so Father suggested that I bring him to Earth to recover. We arrived at lunchtime today."

Darcy is stunned. "Oh. Wow. That sucks."

"You believe me, then?"

"Of course I do, Thor! Why wouldn't I?"

"Because Director Fury, the head of SHIELD, doesn't. He wants to take Loki into captivity, to punish him for the actions of the imposter. I asked you here so that you could help us to take care of Loki, but you must understand that doing so could potentially be dangerous."

In answer, Darcy pulls her taser out of her bag. "I eat danger for breakfast, Thor. Let's do this. Can you introduce me?"

"If you put the taser away."

Darcy sketches him a mock bow, but replaces her weapon in her bag.

They return to the elevator lobby, where Bruce, Tony, and Natasha stand, watching Loki, who stares right back.

Darcy walks into the middle of this standoff carelessly, pulling Thor along in her wake.

Loki turns his attention to them, and Thor says, "Darcy Lewis, I would like you to meet my brother, Loki. Loki, this is Darcy."

As Darcy addresses Loki, all of her rough edges, her bravado, falls away. It's then that Thor knows he's made the right choice. "It's nice to meet you, Loki."

Loki doesn't answer her, so she looks questioningly up at Thor.

"Loki has not spoken since we found him."

"Hey, that's cool. I can talk enough for two people. Now, Thor, aren't you going to introduce the rest of your little friends?"

Tony steps forward before Thor can respond. "I'm 'Tony Fucking Stark,' thanks for the compliment. And that was Steve Rogers, the _other _big blond, who slipped into the elevator with Bird-Boy."

"It wasn't a compliment. And I already know Natasha, so who's the adorable fluffball over there?"

Bruce self-consciously runs a hand through his hair, blushing a bit at being called a 'fluffball,' but answers, "I'm Bruce Banner. It's nice to meet you, Ms. Lewis."

"First of all, I'm not a 'Ms.' And secondly, _you're_ Dr. Bruce Banner? Damn, Erik's a fangirl. He misses you, you know."

"I, uh, wasn't aware of that, actually. Darcy."

"That's better. Now, where's my room?"

JARVIS answers, "A room is being prepared for you on the same floor as Masters Thor and Loki, Ms. Lewis."

Darcy's mouth drops open slightly before she recovers. "You must be the legendary JARVIS, then. Thanks, and nice to meet you."

"That's all? No freaking out?" Tony whines.

"Oh, Natasha and Clint gave me the rundown on the way over. 'List of crazy shit in Tony's Tower,' they called it."

"That's not fair." Tony pouts for a minute, but then he recovers. "Okay, people, let's go finish the movie!"

They all obediently troop back into the living room, and Natasha and Tony settle into opposite ends of the loveseat.

Thor pulls Bruce and Darcy down on either side of him on the couch, and Loki sits next to Darcy. Four people is a bit of a tight fit, but Thor doesn't mind having to sit touching Bruce. Not at all.

JARVIS resumes the movie, and Darcy falls asleep, about twenty minutes in.

After the movie, Thor carries Darcy to her room, where Natasha says she'll help her get ready for bed. Loki brings her bags. Bruce and Tony take the elevator up together, discussing a potential collaboration on something or other.

Thor and Loki go into their bedroom, where they are both soon asleep.

* * *

**We have progress. What do y'all think about that?**


	10. Calamity

**There aren't words for how fantastic my beta, dysprositos, is. Thank you.**

* * *

It is exactly 4:28 AM, according to the clock next to Bruce's bed. Normally, at this time, he would be asleep, but the alarm klaxon sounding from the ceiling and what feels like every corner of the room kind of makes that next to impossible.

It's not the fire alarm—Tony had set that off once or twice in the last week—so Bruce isn't exactly sure what he should be doing.

"JARVIS? What's going on?"

"Dr. Banner, please get up. Mr. Stark asks that everyone grab warm clothing and anything valuable and small enough to carry and meet him on the 80th floor."

"I'll be right there."

Bruce swings out of bed, roused immediately to full consciousness by JARVIS's announcement. Socks and shoes go on first, and then he grabs a jacket from the chair in his bedroom. He removes Betty's key from its hiding place and wraps it in some tissue, stuffing it securely in the inside pocket of his jacket.

Shoving his arms through the sleeves, he makes his way to the elevator, finding Clint and Natasha there already, stowing various weapons about their persons.

The elevator button is already pushed, so Bruce stands back, out of their way. About thirty seconds later, Steve falls through the doorway of his room, attempting to put on one uniform boot, carry his shield, and walk all at the same time.

Driven by ingrained politeness, Bruce steps over to lend a hand, taking the shield from Steve. The supersoldier relinquishes it easily, shifting his balance so that he's balancing on one foot with the other pulled up to where he can bend over and lace his boot.

The elevator doors slide open, revealing Thor (_his hair is in a ponytail again_) with Darcy and Loki, who looks frightened. Loki has not ridden in an elevator before, Bruce remembers, and this is hardly the best set of circumstances to introduce him to elevator-riding.

The four of them pile on, Steve taking his shield back from Bruce on the way. He has to hold it above his head, as the seven occupants of the elevator take up most of the space.

"Does _anybody_ know what the hell is going on?" Darcy asks.

"No, Darcy. But it's clearly nothing good," Natasha answers.

Darcy goes quiet, grim determination settling across her face. The others' faces are similarly schooled, so Bruce does his best to emulate their expression.

Finally, mercifully, (_it was getting a little hard to breathe in there_), the doors slide open, revealing Tony, suited up except for his helmet, which he has tucked under an arm.

"What the hell is going on, Tony?" Steve wants to know. It's a good question, under these circumstances.

In answer, Tony point to the screen on the wall next to the elevator. They all whip around in unison, and if things didn't seem so dire, Bruce would think their perfect timing was funny.

The screen shows a full NYPD SWAT team, uniformed and helmeted, armed with _damn, those are _big_ guns._

"What do they want, Tony?" Steve doesn't understand the situation, but Bruce does. He draws back into himself, preparing to make a run for it. New York is a port, he should be able to catch a ship...

Tony's voice is dull. "Here, listen. JARVIS?"

The video rewinds seamlessly. "Mr. Stark, you have thirty minutes to turn over the international war criminal who goes by Loki, and the suspected terrorist Bruce Banner. If they do not surrender themselves, we will come in and retrieve them. Thank you for your cooperation."

Bruce is on the verge of panic. _I__s it Ross? What do they want?_ when Steve's voice breaks through the building fog in his head.

"—long do we have?" Steve's taking charge.

"Twenty-six minutes. What's the plan, Cap?"

Steve winces a little when he's called 'Cap,' but that's a problem for a later time.

"Okay. Here's the plan. They want Bruce and Loki. Obviously, we're not giving up either of them. Thor, can you fly two people at the same time? How about three?"

_He's..._not_ giving me up? After the week we've had, I would have expected him to use me as bait. But, oh, that would probably cause an 'incident,' and he doesn't want that. Of course_, Bruce thinks.

Thor answers Steve, "...Yes, I can fly two. But not three." And two is going to be a stretch, but he doesn't want to admit that. Not in front of everyone.

"Good. Okay. Thor, I want you to take Loki and Ms. Lewis. Tony, you've got Bruce. I want the two of you to fly them out of here, up to Canada. I'm sorry to take advantage of you like this, Tony, but I need you to get them hotel rooms up there and then fly back. We're going to need your skills to handle this. Got it so far, everyone?"

"Yes." Thor's answer is short; clearly he's into the battle mentality.

Tony just nods sharply, his eyes intently focused.

Loki says nothing, of course.

"Um, why do _I_ have to go?" Darcy asks. "It's not like they're after me or anything."

"This has the potential to get real ugly, real fast, Ms. Lewis. Frankly, we can't worry about protecting you. It's safer for everyone if you go with Thor."

Darcy shrugs. "Okay. That makes sense."

Bruce has another objection, something that merits pointing out. "Um, I don't think flying is the best thing for me right now. Not ever, really. But especially not _now_."

"Look, Bruce. I'm sorry. This is our best plan, the most workable option. You're just going to _have_ to hold it together," Steve commands.

"Bruce. Buddy. Pal. You can do this. I'll be right there with you. Okay?" Tony tries to reassure him.

Reluctantly, Bruce nods, then adds, "As long as you promise that you'll drop me if I start going green."

"Sure, sure. Whatever."

"I'm serious, Tony. _Promise_."

"I promise, Bruce."

"That's settled, then. Clint, Natasha, I want you here with me. We're going to have to stay in the building. When they come busting in here, I want to try and negotiate with them. If they don't buy it, _non-lethal force __only_. Use tranquilizers or something. Fury sent these guys for a reason, instead of a SHIELD squad. If we kill a police officer, there goes any hope of getting the public on our side, understand? The same goes for you, Tony. I need you coordinating with the lawyers, not sitting in a jail cell."

Natasha and Clint nod, pulling out their weapons to...switch the contents, Bruce assumes.

"Okay, good. Let's do this. Fly carefully."

Thor wraps an arm around Loki, pushing him close to Darcy. He picks up both of them in his left arm, an amazing feat. They look squished together but not in any danger.

A metal-encased hand falls on Bruce's shoulder for a second, turning his attention to Tony just in time to see the billionaire don his helmet.

His voice comes out through the speakers, slightly tinny. "Okay, doc. You're gonna need to get on my back. I need both hands for the flight stabilizers."

Bruce nods and goes around to Tony's back, carefully putting his hands on Tony's shoulders and then pulling himself up. He's having a bit of a rough time, but after a moment, interlaced fingers slip under his right foot, and Natasha's voice counts off clearly, "One, two, three, _jump_."

He does, and then he's clinging to Tony's back, knowing that he's going to fall off in a minute.

"We're going horizontal, hang on." Tony moves, hovering long enough for Bruce to get his balance before he calls out to Thor, "Let's go, big guy. Follow me, and stay close, okay?"

"Yes."

Without any further preamble, Tony moves forward, through the open window (_when did they open that?_). Bruce glances up long enough to see Thor following with Darcy and Loki before he buries his head between Tony's helmet and armored shoulder.

He closes his eyes and slips into one of the deepest meditative states he can manage without losing consciousness.

* * *

Thor is worried. SHIELD has sent armed forces to capture his vulnerable brother _and Bruce_. The only reason that Bruce is being targeted is because of him, Thor knows, and he feels guilty for putting his friends in this situation.

Especially Bruce. The scientist has done _nothing _to deserve this persecution.

But he cannot dwell on that, he has to focus on flying and not dropping Loki or Darcy. They're rather uncomfortably smashed together in his embrace, but he needs an arm free to swing Mjölnir. Having his hair pulled back does help his visibility, though.

His rate of speed is slightly faster than what he would like, given the circumstances, but he needs to keep up with Tony. He suspects the billionaire is trying to make the trip as quick as possible for Bruce's sake.

Thor cannot talk, needing to keep his concentration elsewhere, but after a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Darcy speaks up.

"So, Loki. Do this often? Fly around with Thor, I mean?"

Thor can _feel_ Loki's nod, and that's miraculous in and of itself. He would have suspected that his brother would retreat back into himself in the face of danger, not reach out. But Loki makes it his life's mission to surprise Thor, and it's really no surprise that even in this state, Loki is still working at it.

"Huh. You like it?" Darcy has to yell to be heard over the wind, but she doesn't seem to mind.

Loki takes a minute to consider before shaking his head negatively, his hair brushing against Thor's chin.

"Well, that sucks," Darcy says flatly. "Hmm. Want me to distract you?"

Loki's nod is eager. And _damn, but am I learning __a lot __about him. My own brother, and it feels like I never knew him before_.

"Okay. I know I can't sing, but just...humor me, okay?"

Loki must do something that Thor cannot see because Darcy begins to sing.

"Hush, little demigod, don't say a word, Tony's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird don't sing, Tony's gonna buy you a diamond ring.

And if that diamond ring turns brass, Tony's gonna buy you a looking glass.

And if that looking glass gets broke, Tony's gonna buy you a billy goat,

And if that billy goat doesn't pull, Tony's gonna buy you a cart and bull.

And if that cart and bull turn over, Tony's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

And if that dog named Rover won't bark, Tony's gonna buy you a horse and cart.

And if that horse and cart fall down, well, you'll still be the sweetest demigod in town."

She's halfway through her third rendition when Tony points down to a parking lot. Thor follows his finger, landing awkwardly and heavily, keeping Darcy and Loki's weight suspended until he is fully on the ground.

Tony is hovering above the ground, talking to Bruce, who is not responding or moving to get off his back. Leaving Darcy and Loki to help each other regain their balance, Thor hurries over.

He has to pry Bruce's fingers from their death grip around Tony's neck before he can lift the scientist off.

Tony lands with a sigh, pushing his facemask up and turning to inspect the scientist in Thor's arms.

Bruce stirs slightly and then starts, blinking up at the sky.

"It is alright, Bruce. We have arrived."

Bruce looks around wildly until his gaze settles on Tony. "Is everything... Did I...?" He still looks fairly bleary.

Tony answers soothingly, "Everything's fine, doc. You were in a pretty heavy meditative state there, from the looks of it."

Thor is hurt that Bruce would seek the comfort of another person over his, and unconsciously, his grip tightens around the scientist. He needs to talk to Bruce, _soon_.

Bruce sighs in relief, and Thor is brought out of his thoughts. He notices that his grip has tightened, and he loosens it enough that Bruce can be comfortable. He doesn't want to put the scientist down.

Loki and Darcy walk over, still leaning on each other slightly. Flight is rough, especially in the conditions they were just under.

"Okay, everybody's here. Let's get you checked in, and then I need to get back to Spangles and crew," Tony directs. "Big guy, put Bruce down and come on. Try to look as inconspicuous...fuck it, stealth's not really gonna work here."

Thor sets Bruce down. The scientist's knees immediately buckle, so Thor slips an arm around Bruce's waist, supporting most of his weight. Darcy and Loki seem okay supporting each other, so Thor motions for them to follow Tony, who clanks forward in his suit.

They make an odd grouping walking into the lobby, but luckily it's nearly deserted.

Tony walks up to the main desk, helmet under his arm, and wallet produced from somewhere? (Thor doesn't really know).

After much pointing and hushed shouting and at one point, Tony slipping some money into her hand, the receptionist and Tony settle up.

Tony walks back to them, handing Darcy the small envelope in his hand. "Sorry, they only have one room available. It's a double, though, and there's a couch, so hopefully that'll be enough. I need to go. My credit card is in there, and JARVIS has added the four of you to my account. Stay inside as much as possible, and one of us will call you when we can. Don't call us. Got it?"

Darcy relinquishes her hold on Loki, straightening up as much as possible considering the fact that he's still leaning on her, and salutes. "Got it. Be careful. Don't need any of my shiny new friends getting beat up."

Tony smiles back ferally, "Of course. Loki, Thor, Bruce." He nods and turns, preparing to leave.

Bruce calls out, "Tony? Please, be careful." His eyes are still closed, and his voice is slow, drawn out.

"Always am, doc, now what kind of a question is that? But I will be. Call you later," and he slides his helmet on, striding towards the door.

"Okay, gang. Let's get this show on the road." Darcy led them to the elevator, pulling Loki inside and resuming her position as his support.

She inspects the envelope in her hand. "Push the '7,' will you?"

Thor does, and the doors slide shut and they begin to rise. Darcy has positioned herself and Loki so that he cannot see out of the glass-backed elevator, and Thor is grateful for that.

It had been an unsettling experience for him, his first time, and Loki is not as...fit as Thor was, then.

The elevator doors open on floor five, but the family standing there looks at them and collectively takes a small step back. Thor doesn't know if they make that strange of a picture, or if the family had simply realized that there wasn't enough room for them.

On the seventh floor, Darcy leads them down the hall, Loki trailing her obediently, apparently attached to her after their shared experience of flying.

She's muttering numbers under her breath, "5...7...9...11...ah, 13. Here we go."

The envelope contains two small cards, and Darcy swipes one of them through the reader on the door, opening it after it clicks.

She ushers them in, immediately hurrying to the temperature control system and fiddling with it.

Thor is still supporting Bruce, whose eyes are shut, his breathing regulated and even, so he eases the scientist down on one of the beds and turns to Loki.

"Are you okay, brother?" He doesn't expect Loki to respond, but his brother returns a small nod, watching Darcy.

After the controls are adjusted to her satisfaction, she turns back to them. "Okay, what the hell is up with Bruce?" Thor notices that she does not wait for his permission to call him by his first name, but just does. It's another facet of her personality, this sometimes careless disregard for propriety.

"I am not sure, Darcy." Thor moves to sit by Bruce and lays a hand on his shoulder. Bruce shifts, turning to look at Thor, blinking slowly.

"Bruce? Are you well?"

Bruce takes a moment to answer. "Huh? ...Oh, I'm fine. I just spaced out, I guess."

"If you were 'spaced out,' you went all the way to Asgard or something, dude. That was some serious concentration there," Darcy comments.

Bruce looks around, taking in their surroundings. It's obvious that he has no idea how he got there. But once he's satisfied, he turns back to Darcy.

Actually, all three of them are staring at her. She stares right back, defiant. After a moment of this, Bruce breaks away.

Darcy speaks up, "I suppose I just won the vote for leader, then, huh? Okay, then. Tony said to stay in the room as much as possible, so I guess we're entertaining ourselves." She moves to pull something from her jacket pocket.

Her hand comes out empty. "Damn it! Shit! I cannot fucking believe that fucking SHIELD made me lose my fucking iPod _again_!" She continues muttering profanities under her breath.

At her revelation, Bruce starts. His hand flies to his chest, where he frantically pats around until he is assured that whatever he had put in his pocket was there. His whole body relaxes when he finds it.

"I am sorry, Darcy. I am sure we can replace it, though," Thor says uncertainly, as her mumbling has not stopped.

"Of course we can, but it's the principle of the thing, Thor! Fucking assholes..."

Loki sits on the other bed, drawing his legs up under him. He looks at Darcy questioningly, and that's enough to return her to business. However, if Thor knows Darcy, he is sure that they have not heard the end of this.

"Okay, at least there's TV. And room service. Let's hang out for a while, and then later I'll call a cab and see about making a Walmart run. We all could use some clothes. And toothbrushes, and probably some snack foods and books..."

"That sounds...agreeable, Darcy," Bruce says, making an effort to stay focused on the situation at hand.

"I agree with this plan, as well," Thor adds his support.

Loki just gets comfortable on the bed, so Darcy shrugs and grabs the remote, flopping onto the bed next to Loki and toeing off her shoes.

She flips channels until she finds a program on the International Space Station. Bruce is immediately interested, and Loki seems to like it as well, so Thor raises no objection.

Darcy tosses Bruce the remote and burrows under the blankets, putting her glasses on the table between the beds.

"I'm gonna try and take a nap, so keep the TV volume reasonable, okay?"

"Sure, Darcy," Bruce answers. Thor likes her idea, so he shifts down until his head is on the pillow, drawing up one knee into his favored sleeping position.

"Uh, Thor? Am I in your way? Do I need to move?"

"You're fine, Bruce. Just don't let me push you over the side, okay?" Thor winks up at Bruce and then closes his eyes.

* * *

Three hours later, Thor wakes up. He has shifted onto his side, and Bruce is asleep facing him. The TV volume is on low, and, shifting carefully so that he does not wake Bruce, Thor rolls so that he can see the other bed.

Darcy is still sleeping, but she has moved so that she is using Loki's thigh as a pillow. Loki is awake, sitting up and watching the television.

The remote is near his left hand, and his right hand rests lightly on Darcy's head.

It's quite a sweet picture, and Thor does not want to discourage Loki from making new friends, so he scoots closer to Bruce a little and closes his eyes again.

About twenty minutes later, the phone rings.

Thor rolls up into a sitting position, quickly grabbing it. "Hello?"

"Thor? It's Natasha."

"Is everything okay? What happened?" Thor knows his voice is too loud, but he is worried about his friends. He feels the bed shift as Bruce wakes up, and he can see Darcy stirring. Loki mutes the television (having readily grasped the concept of 'remote control') so that Thor can hear better.

"Look, I can't talk long. We're fine. Just...stay where you are, okay? We need a few days to get this sorted, and then you can come back. I'm sorry about all this. Tony said he gave Darcy his credit card...?"

It sounds like she's waiting for an answer, so Thor tells her, "Yes."

"Okay, good. You just need to keep a low profile, okay? Somebody'll call again tomorrow. Be careful."

Thor is opening his mouth to respond, but he hears the phone click, so he replaces the receiver.

Darcy is awake, and she asks, "Who was that? Is everyone okay?"

Despite the distinct feeling Thor has that Natasha is not telling him everything, he doesn't want to alarm the rest of them. So he says, "That was Natasha. She said that's everyone is doing well. They just need us to stay up here a few more days."

"Phew, that's a damn relief. Okay, I'm hungry. Why don't we order up room service and I can make a shopping list after we eat?"

"Sure, I'm hungry," Thor answers, to no one's surprise.

"Okay, menu should be around here someplace. Dibs on the bathroom!" and Darcy rolls from the bed, dashing for the bathroom. The door slams shut.

Bruce slides off the bed and looks around for the menu. He finds it on the chest next to the TV, and hands it to Thor.

Thor moves to sit next to Loki so they can peruse the choices together. Thor decides on a hamburger and a steak, and Loki points to the grilled chicken, so Thor assumes that's what he wants (while recalling JARVIS's lesson on 'assuming').

Thor passes the menu to Darcy, who has just emerged from the bathroom.

Darcy makes a selection and then hands the menu over to Bruce. Thor relates Loki's order to Darcy, who places the call for Thor and Loki's food, her cheeseburger and fries, and Bruce's glazed chicken and almond salad.

Their food is delivered a few minutes later, and for a few minutes the only sounds in the room are of clanking silverware and chewing, with the low hum of the TV in the background. Since Loki eats his food without complaint, Thor supposes that he guessed what his brother wanted accurately.

Darcy finishes her burger and grabs the hotel stationary, holding the pen in her left hand and eating fries with her right.

She heads the list, 'shopping,' and waits for the others to finish eating.

* * *

**I'm almost scared to ask for your reactions, but please?**


	11. Questioning

**dysprositos was über helpful with this because I sent it to her essentially saying "am dying, help me please!" And she delivered in style.**

* * *

Thirty-eight minutes later, Darcy has a complete list of things that they need to buy at Walmart. Reading over her shoulder, Bruce sees:

_Shopping_

_clothes (everybody)_

_toothbrush/paste (everybody)_

_other bathroom stuff __(everybody, especially Darcy)_

_reading glasses (Bruce)_

_books (everybody)_

_board games (two at least)_

_snack foods (two for everyone except Thor, who gets four)_

Anything else they might need, they have to pick out on their own.

After piling all of their dishes outside the door, the 'who's going to go' discussion begins. Bruce hates conflict, but he does realize that this combination of personalities is potentially volatile.

"I'm definitely going," Darcy says. "I'm the least recognizable, and, no offense, I'm the one who has actually done this before."

"I have been to Walmart at least once or twice before, you know," Bruce adds softly. He's not thrilled about being cooped up in this tiny little room for so long, and he would love to get out and stretch his legs. "I can go with you. I'm not that recognizable." He pauses, "At least when I'm not green."

The rest of the room ignores that last comment. It makes him feel a little better, that they don't immediately agree with him.

"I think that Loki and I should come as well," Thor tells them. "We should not split up, and this room is beginning to seem cramped."

"Thor, I'm sorry, but that's not a good idea. You stand out in a crowd, and so does Loki." Darcy attempts to reason with him.

"Darcy, I cannot allow you to go without me. Either we all go, or nobody goes at all."

"Damn it, Thor. Just..." She caves, "Okay, fine, we'll all go. Let's leave in about thirty minutes. I'll call a cab and then I'm washing my face, so nobody go use the bathroom."

She flips through the phone book and then dials a number on the hotel room phone.

She has to agree to pay extra for a cab large enough to seat four people, but she pulls a credit card out of her pocket that Bruce recognizes as Tony's, so he's not too worried. Tony obviously has money to spare and doesn't mind spending it on his...friends? Is that what Bruce is, a friend? He hasn't considered himself a _friend_ in so long that the word feels foreign. All he's been is a nuisance or a helping hand, fixing (or creating) the problem and then getting the hell out of there.

Darcy goes to wash her face, and Thor addresses Bruce lowly, trying to bring the scientist out of his thoughts. The deep frown that has settled on the physicist's face is unignorable. "Are you feeling okay, Bruce?"

The distraction works. Bruce is not really sure _why_ Thor is so interested in his welfare, but he finds that he really doesn't mind all that much. It's been so long since someone else _cared_. "I'm fine, Thor. How are you?" The least he can do, he figures, is reciprocate.

"I'm okay. I don't like this situation."

Loki shifts on the other bed. "What is it, brother?" Thor asks.

Loki doesn't answer, just continues to squirm. Thor watches him closely, trying to figure out the problem, Bruce assumes.

After about a minute of this, Darcy returns from washing her face, tucking her hair behind her ear. Loki practically bowls her over in his frantic rush to the bathroom, and she stumbles, bracing a hand on Bruce's shoulder for balance.

Thor chuckles and reaches out, helping to right the young woman. "Are you okay, Darcy? I apologize for Loki."

"No harm, no foul." Seeing Thor's eyebrows bunch together at the unfamiliar idiom, she adds, "I'm fine, Thor. No harm done."

Loki comes back and sheepishly pats Darcy's arm.

"It's fine, hon. You didn't hurt me. Jane's done worse in a science craze." Her face darkens.

Silence falls across the room for a minute.

"Okay, then. You two," she points at Thor and Bruce, "need to go potty. We are not taking bathroom breaks on the way there, and Walmart bathrooms are notoriously crappy. It's not as much as a problem for you, being guys, and all but still..." Seemingly realizing that she is rambling, she cuts herself off. "Just go. Cab'll be here in ten minutes."

Thor gets up and goes obediently. When he comes back, Bruce goes, too. _Darcy's like an unstoppable force of nature_, he thinks. _Nothing can stand against her._

He returns to his spot on the bed next to Thor, and idly toys with the comforter, rolling it in between his fingers. Thor and Darcy talk about their running game of Words With Friends, saved on their phones back at the Tower.

"Okay, boys, let's go." Darcy gets up and puts on her jacket.

The three of them scramble to follow her example. Thor, jacket on, is holstering Mjölnir in his belt, but Darcy sees and tells him, "Uh-uh, big guy. Myeuh-myeuh stays here."

Thor laughs but puts Mjölnir on the bed, bowing to the force of her will. Bruce assumes that is what 'Myeuh-myeuh' means.

They take the elevator down, Darcy humming something under her breath and tapping her foot, Thor facing Loki with his back to the doors, keeping Loki from seeing out of the elevator. Bruce just observes the three of them, particularly Thor and Loki.

_Thor's a good brother_, Bruce realizes, taking in the demigod's protective stance.

In the lobby, Darcy, in the lead, turns to face them. "Just stay here a sec, 'kay? I'm gonna go leave a message at the desk in case the others call. Don't want them to worry when we don't pick up."

It's a good idea. Bruce wonders what's going on in New York, what happened with the SWAT team, the big guns. _Is everyone okay?_

Darcy finishes with the desk clerk and beckons, and they follow her out to a waiting minivan. _Like ducklings_, Bruce thinks ruefully. He feels like a child again, following his mother around, "helping" her shop for groceries. It's not a bad feeling, really. He likes not having to make all of the decisions, be responsible for everything going on around him.

They pile into the van, Darcy and Thor playfully bickering about who sits where. Darcy pulls Loki into the back row with her, so Bruce, the last one in, settles into the middle row next to Thor. Darcy asks the driver if he would turn on the radio. He does, and Darcy loses herself in her thoughts, absently nodding along to the beat. Thor and Loki watch out the windows, so Bruce does too, seeing the cityscape flash along.

At Walmart, Darcy tells the driver to wait for them.

"Gotta leave the meter running, you know, missy."

Her face twists, but she manages to keep her voice level. "Sure do. It's not a problem." Without another word, she slams her door and stomps towards the entrance.

Inside, Thor takes the shopping cart away from her gently, pushing it himself, and Loki slips his hand into hers.

Her tense posture relaxes, and she curls her fingers around Loki's, holding their list with her other hand. Idly, Bruce wishes that he could have that effect on another person, to be able to calm them with his very presence. But that's not who he is, _what _he is. Bruce knows that, without exception, he makes people tense. Even Tony, for all his bluster and bravado, is always watching Bruce out of the corner of his eye. His gaze weighs heavily on Bruce, who just wants _one friend_ who doesn't act like Bruce is going to go ballistic any second.

They're in the health and beauty aids department, in the makeup aisle, all three men helplessly watching Darcy browse for...whatever it is that she needs, when she turns to them.

"Okay, look. I feel like a preschool teacher here. Like we need one of those ropes with knots in it or something. So, here," she rips a piece off her list and scribbles on it, "why don't you all go and get clothes and books for yourselves? And get some snacks, too. Bruce, you have a watch, let's meet back here in forty-five minutes. Oh, and get your reading glasses!"

"Um, Darcy, I don't think we should leave you here by yourself," Bruce replies. He doesn't like the idea of splitting up like this, it feels like it's just _inviting_ danger.

"Bullshit. I'll be fine."

"No, Darcy, Bruce is right. If we are annoying you," because that's clearly what this is about, Thor knows, "two of us can leave, but you should not be by yourself. You left your taser at the Tower." In his experience, females always like space when doing their...female things.

She rolls her eyes. "Okay, fine. Loki can stay. I like him better than you two, anyway." She's smiling, so Bruce doesn't take it personally, just reaches out to compare their watches before taking their list from her and walking towards the front to grab another cart.

Thor is not following, so Bruce calls, "Come on, Thor. They'll be fine, promise." And, well, he really _can't_ promise this, but it _is_ Walmart, and Thor has said nothing about Loki losing his magic, so he feels pretty secure that they will be safe. All the same, he'll feel better when they're back at the hotel with the door locked.

The demigod reluctantly walks towards Bruce, and Bruce watches Loki and Darcy over his shoulder. Darcy is apparently going to make Loki push the cart, as she is putting his hands on its bar.

Thor catches up with him then, and Bruce leads him to the front, where they get a cart and have a brief silent disagreement over who will push it. Thor wins, so Bruce takes point again, following the signs to the men's department.

When they arrive he asks, "Thor, do you know your size?"

"Uh, no, I don't. Tony didn't tell me yesterday."

"Okay." Bruce sizes Thor up for a moment. "I think our best bet is to get you some elastic-waist athletic shorts. You're probably too big for almost anything else, and it's not that cold outside yet. That good with you?"

"This sounds fine, Bruce."

Bruce walks over to the shorts and flicks through to the back of the rack, finding the largest size they have.

"Do you care what color, Thor?"

"No."

Bruce just grabs the first two on the rack and stands back up, handing them to Thor. "Here. Let me grab some pants and then we can go get shirts, okay?" He's not sure why he's being so bossy with Thor, but the demigod doesn't seem to mind, however.

They had decided on two outfits each when they made the list because Darcy had checked the room and found that the hotel offered laundry services. She said for them all to get something they could sleep in, so Bruce picks himself out a pair of the basketball shorts, holding them up to his body briefly to check the fit.

Then he grabs a pair of khakis, also checking the size on those. The shirts are down the row a bit, so Bruce grabs the cart from where Thor had parked it and heads down there.

"Um, I'm guessing you're the largest size that they have. That's probably an extra-large or double-extra-large." Bruce checks the rack of t-shirts. "Oh, these go all the way up to triple-extra-large. You'd better try a couple on."

He hands Thor the double- and triple-extra-larges, and picks out a medium gray shirt for himself.

The polos are nearby, so he walks over and picks out a blue one. Casual clothing is not really his thing, something left over from his days as an academic, where first impressions were important.

Thor has regained control of the cart, so Bruce puts his shirts inside and points to the sign that says 'fitting room.'

Thor tries on the shirts, consulting Bruce, to the amusement of the grandma waiting on her granddaughter, and they settle on the double-extra-large because the triple- wasn't any longer, just wider. Thor is muscular, but certainly not fat. They go back to get another one in that size, and Thor gets a green one to match the blue one he already had.

With their clothing in order, Bruce leads Thor to the optical department where he picks out a pair of heavy, sensible black reading glasses in his strength.

They pick out books next, Thor getting some general fiction, one of which Bruce is pretty sure is a romance. Bruce gets two science-fiction novels, and manages to find a bent up _Popular Science_ behind a gossip magazine.

Food is harder because Bruce doesn't want to get junk food (somehow, he just _knows_ that's all that Darcy will be getting, and she'll encourage Loki to do the same). He manages to find some trail mix and dried fruit that meet his nutrition qualifications.

Thor picks out his food, and Bruce wonders about his taste. Because he's chosen peanut butter crackers, tortilla chips, pre-popped popcorn, and some sort of brightly colored cereal.

"You know we can't keep milk in the room, right? There's no fridge."

"I prefer to eat these without milk, but thanks, Bruce."

_Okay, then. To each his own._

Finished with everything on their list, they return to the appointed meeting place. It's only been thirty-seven minutes, so it doesn't surprise Bruce that Loki and Darcy are not back yet.

Thor looks worried, though, so Bruce reassures him, "Hey, they have to go to the women's _and_ the men's department. And Darcy doesn't seem like the type to take shopping lightly. Don't worry." He sees a nearby bench and walks over.

Thor smiles at him, following him to the bench with the cart. "I'm sure they're fine. Actually, Bruce, I'm glad I got you alone. I've been wanting to talk to you."

_Oh, God, what about? Does he want me to leave? Am I endangering his brother? What__—_

Thor cuts off his thoughts by laying a large hand on his back. "It's nothing bad, Bruce. Don't frown like that. Your face will freeze that way."

And hearing the goddamn god of thunder saying that colloquialism with such a serious look on his face breaks the tension. Bruce laughs until he can feel his eyes tearing up.

Thor waits patiently until Bruce calms, watching his reaction amusedly.

"I'm sorry, Thor. I just... What did you want to say?"

"Bruce. I would like to declare my intention to court you."

It's not phrased as a question, but Thor obviously wants _some_ sort of answer.

Which is nice and all, but Bruce hasn't quite made it there yet. _What the hell? Seriously, what in the goddamn world? __Maybe that means something else on Asgard? Or I could __have heard him wrong. Yeah, that's probably it, calm down, Banner. No need to get all worked up just because your ears don't work properly._

Out loud, he says, "I'm sorry, but I think I misheard you. Could you please repeat that?"

"Certainly. Bruce, I would like to date you."

_Well, there's no mistaking that. Hold on, _Thor_ wants to date _me_? What? Why me? I can't date anybody... But it's _Thor_, he should be able to handle the Other Guy, and he's not scared of me, and oh God, what do I say? Is there even a proper response to this?_

Thor puts a hand over his reassuringly, and Bruce tries to find words. "Oh. Wow. I don't really know what to say. That's... just, damn, Thor."

"I assume this is a positive reaction, yes?"

Bruce isn't sure. "Um, I suppose?"

Thor chuckles, "Are you asking me or telling me, Bruce? Because I cannot answer the question for you, I can just tell you what _I_ want."

"...Do I have to answer now? I mean, can I think about it?" Because it's a lot to think about, and there are a thousand questions that Bruce needs to answer for himself before he can even consider what Thor has proposed.

"Of course, Bruce. I don't want to pressure you."

"Uh, thanks, Thor."

The silence that follow is definitely awkward. Not knowing what to say or do, Bruce grabs one of his books and his new glasses from the cart and opens the book, putting on his glasses, eyes skimming over the pages, not really absorbing any of the words.

Thor seems to be content to people-watch, leaning back against the bench with his legs crossed.

Bruce keeps a fraction of his focus on the book, moving his eyes and turning the pages at semi-regular intervals.

Internally, though, he worries that he is in danger of Hulk-ing out, right here in this podunk Canadian Walmart, the swirl of questions inside of him threatening to pull him under. _Why would he ask _me_ out? Am I even into men?__ No, not men. Am I i__nto demigods straight from the pages of a mythology textbook? Do I _want_ this? Can I handle it? Is it _safe_?_

He has accomplished nothing but amassing a stock of questions, none of which he has the answer to (and none of which he is willing to face), by the time Darcy and Loki return, hand in hand and smiling, their cart piled high with what looks like mostly frivolous items.

Bruce is in no place to chastise them, as he certainly remembers being that age, carefree. And Loki does look better, less haggard, so that's a bonus.

Bruce knows what it's like to be held captive, tortured for something you didn't deserve. Except maybe he _did_ deserve it, since it was his own hubris that got him into trouble, brought him into contention with Ross, with the beast inside him.

Darcy pokes him in the shoulder lightly, getting his attention. "Hey, doc, wakey-wakey. It's time to go."

Bruce stands, putting the glasses and book back in the cart. He can feel Thor's eyes on him, but he refuses to look at the demigod, knowing that the weight of all the lives in the store is squarely on his shoulders.

So he doesn't see Thor's face as he watches Bruce, wondering if he made the right choice, asking Bruce here, like this, in a stressful situation. He has the utmost faith in Bruce, but he knows that Bruce doesn't have the same faith in himself. Somehow, Thor has always been drawn to people who need a little fixing, probably because he too needs a little. He also recognizes that this is not the ideal place, but he'd finally gotten Bruce alone, and he asked the scientist almost before he could help himself. _Damn it, Odinson, what were you thinking?_

Darcy, perhaps sensing the tension, keeps up a steady stream of meaningless chatter as they check out and return to the taxi-van.

She pays the driver and then checks in at the desk, confirming that they did have a missed call, but no messages, just the person on the other end saying that they would call back later.

Back in their room, she calls dibs on the shower, again, and takes her new clothes into the small room along with two bags of...miscellany. Bruce cannot even begin to understand most feminine hygiene products.

The room is silent until Loki picks up the TV remote and flicks on a loud, bright program on a children's channel. He definitely can sense the discomfort, as he keeps shooting _looks_ at Bruce and Thor.

Darcy comes back from the shower and Thor gets up to take his, murmuring something to her as he passes.

For her part, she just plops down next to Loki, "What're we watching, huh?"

Loki hands her the remote and turns onto his side facing the door, watching it intently like he expects something to come through it.

A few minutes later, the phone rings. Darcy mutes the TV and answers. "Hello?"

She listens for a while, nodding along. Bruce and Loki both watch her, one on either side.

"Okay, sure, I'll tell him. Hey, you be careful." The response to this makes her snort, short and discordant. It's not a pretty sound.

"'Bye."

"Who was that, Darcy?" Bruce asks.

"Clint. Says they need Thor back down there to answer some questions for the lawyers or some shit like that. He wasn't really clear."

"Okay." Bruce responds, because he feels like he _should_ say something, but he doesn't know what to think, really. He supposes that some distance from Thor would be a good thing, to give him time to think, but at the same the demigod's presence makes him feel...secure? He doesn't really know how to put it into words, to give it any coherence. All he knows is the warm feeling of security? protection? he feels when Thor is around.

He checks back into the situation to see Darcy patting Loki's arm and reassuring him that they will be just fine without Thor. The look she shoots Bruce clearly says 'help,' so he shifts, making eye contact with the smaller (_younger?_) demigod.

"It's going to be fine, Loki. Nobody knows where we are, and if somebody tries to mess with you, well, I can take them. Don't worry about it."

It feels goddamn strange to be reassuring someone about _his_ ability to protect, since his method of 'protection' is no more than rampant destruction. But that's not true, not entirely, because he _does _protect people, all day, every day. He grapples with his demons, resists feeling any emotion, holds the _thing_ inside him in restraints.

Well, no matter what Bruce believes, the combination of his words and Darcy's physical comfort seems to have worked, as the lines in Loki's forehead have smoothed out.

Thor emerges from the bathroom shirtless, and as Darcy explains the situation to him, Bruce can't help but look at the demigod from under his eyelashes, examining him and wondering if he could be attracted to this man.

He's never thought of himself as interested in men before, but there hasn't been much opportunity. There'd been a few meaningless, short relationships in high school, and then there was _Betty_. He's not sure if he is fully over her. After being apart for so many years, he would suspect that the answer to that is 'yes,' but the near 'incident' her note caused makes him reconsider.

But does he look back on her with longing or with a fondness caused by the span of time and location? It's another question he has no answer for.

In the end, Bruce does decide that Thor is attractive, and certainly far out of his league. He knows he's graying, and wrinkled, and older. He can't rationalize Thor's apparent attraction to him, can't wrap his head around it.

Thor moves to embrace Loki and Darcy, and the flash of movement draws Bruce's eye. He sits up a bit straighter, wondering what the appropriate thing to say in this situation is.

He doesn't have to, though, because Thor picks him up in a crushing bear hug, briefly pressing a kiss to his forehead, before heading out the door, Mjölnir in hand.

There's no opportunity to say anything.

Bruce kind of wishes that there had been.

* * *

**What did y'all think? I'd like to know...**


	12. Queries

**Thanks to dysprositos, who deals with my crazy and makes things angsty-er. She's my superwoman.**

**WARNING: Friendly reminder that this is rated M for a reason...**

* * *

Thor's departure leaves the room feeling...empty. _Is that the word for it?_ Bruce thinks.

Darcy takes Loki into the bathroom and explains how to work the shower since he's never been to Earth quite like this. She comes back out after a minute, and rifles around through the bags from Walmart, pulling out another set of clothes, taking them in to him.

Then, she shuts the door, walking out into the main room, where she turns off the TV that Bruce has been watching disconsolately, and sits on the bed with Bruce, so close that she's practically in his lap.

He scoots back against the headboard, staring at her like she's grown a second head. _Who is _that_ foolish, to invade the Hulk's personal space like that?_

But Darcy is _Darcy_, seemingly brash. So he just cocks his head and continues looking at her.

After a minute of staring back at him, she speaks, "Okay, spill. What's got you so tense, doc? I can feel it from all the way over here!"

She's still up in his personal space, so he assumes that last bit must be humor. He's not really sure that he wants to discuss his problems with her, so he hesitates to answer, choosing his words carefully.

"I'm fine, Darcy. Really."

The look on her face clearly says that he is not fooling anyone. "Oh, _really_?"

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"I don't _want_ you to say anything, doc, I just want you to answer the question. Now, let's try that again. Bruce, why are you so tense?" She gives him a serious look like one he's seen on reporters conducting interviews.

"I just... It's personal, okay?"

"Nuh-uh. You, me, and Loki are going to be trapped in this tiny little room for god-knows-how-long, you _don't_ get to be all mopey and shit. Now, you have two choices. Talk about it or quit being mopey. You pick."

It's an ultimatum (albeit the strangest one he's ever heard), and Bruce is certain that Darcy will pry the truth out of him somehow, so he decides to tell her.

"Okay. But, this is between you and me, okay? I don't want any of the others to know; it's really not their business. Deal?"

"Sure thing, doc. Now spill!"

Still, he hesitates before saying, "Thor asked me out while we were waiting for you at Walmart."

She whistles. "Day-um, doc! But I'm guessing that's not such a good thing, judging by the look on your face."

"I _can't_ date anyone!"

"Why is that?" Her face is interested, but a good balance between clinical and desperate for gossip. It makes sense that she would warm up to him, he supposes, because he's a scientist and she's used to scientists, but why _him_? He should be locked up. He's almost _inhuman_.

"I'm the Hulk. Not exactly a great track record there, you know. For a lot of things."

She nods, taking a moment to consider. "Okay. I can see your point of view, but. Hear me out, okay? No talking."

Bruce slowly bobs his head up and down, signaling his acceptance. He's wary, but like she's said, they're going to be stuck in this room together indefinitely, so he needs to make an effort to get along. He vaguely remembers Tony saying something about this being the only available room in the hotel.

"I see two things wrong with that statement. First, you say that you're 'the Hulk' like it's a bad thing." Seeing that he's about to interrupt, she raises her hand. "Ah, ah, ah. You agreed you wouldn't interrupt. Hulk has killed a lot of people, but he's _never_ intentionally attacked a person first. Everyone who he's killed has tried to hurt him first. In the 'Battle of Manhattan,' Hulk saved more lives than he'd ever taken. Now, I don't know much about life debts, but it sounds like you more than paid yours. People like Clint and Natasha, they're going to be paying theirs forever because they have so much 'red in their ledger.'"

He can't help but narrow his eyes at that, wondering how she knows that phrasing.

She answers his silent question, "Natasha got kinda chatty on the flight from New Mexico. She's a little starved for some 'girl time.' Anyway, you _don't_ owe anyone anything. You and Hulk are the same person, yes, but that's not a bad thing. And second, you _can_ date someone. You've made up your mind that you _can't_, but it's all in your head," she taps his left temple. "If you can get around that mental block, you'll probably find that you _want_ to date, but you're too scared to." She inhales noisily. "Okay, I'm done. You can talk now."

Bruce doesn't really know how to respond to any of that. It's a mindfuck of the highest degree, to be sure.

A little unsettled by his non-response, she waves a hand in his face. "Hey, you okay in there? Did I break you?"

He releases a long breath. "No, it's not that... Just, that's a lot to take in." In an attempt to lighten the tense atmosphere, he asks, "How'd you get so smart anyway? Psych major?"

"Nope. Well, actually, yes. I'm about a semester away from a poli sci degree, but I was a psych major for like two and half semesters before I switched. Made my flaws too evident to me, ya know?"

Bruce does, very well, in fact. "I switched majors a few times, too. Started off school as an English major, if you can believe it. That lasted for one semester, before I realized that the sciences were for me. Just not poli sci," he smiles.

"It's not for everyone, that's for sure. But I'm happy with it. And an English major? I can see that, language and science are actually kinda similar, if you think about it."

"I think so, too. Read a study on that once..." he trails off. "But, I know, I'm sure you get this a lot, but how does a poli sci student wind up working for an...astrophysicist?" He's pretty sure that's what Jane Foster is, but he'd honestly skimmed that part of the file on Thor.

Darcy's face abruptly closes off, and she shifts off the bed. Her tone is forced joviality, "I'd better go check on Loki."

Obviously Bruce has hit a nerve, and a pretty raw one, too, by the looks of things. He doesn't want her to be upset, though, so he offers, "Hey, Darcy. Um, thanks. You gave me a lot to think about. Like I didn't have enough already, right?"

It does soften her, and she smiles genuinely at him, "Anytime," before knocking on the bathroom door. "Hey, Loki! You've been in there awhile. Make some noise or something so I know you haven't drowned, okay?"

It sounds like he picks up the toilet lid and then drops it.

"Thanks, Loki. You just take your time." Darcy is visibly more relaxed after that. She moves to the pile of discarded bags and rifles around, pulling out a board game. "Wanna play?"

And, well, it's not like Bruce has anything that needs doing. "Sure."

* * *

Darcy has pulled Monopoly out of the bag, explaining its presence with a shrug and a "Loki picked it out."

Bruce hasn't played in years, but Darcy gives him an impatient look when he reaches for the instructions, so he just sighs and rolls the dice.

She is ahead for awhile, until he remembers how to play, but he catches up soon after. It's nice to be playfully ruthless for a change. It's definitely different than what he's used to.

He's got about a thousand dollar lead when Loki comes out of the bathroom in a pair of shorts similar to the ones Bruce had picked out for Thor and a Mario Kart t-shirt.

Darcy cries "What?" in response to his questioning look, but Bruce just smiles and stands up.

"Hey, Loki, I'm in the lead. Wanna take over for me?"

Loki nods, so Bruce tells him "You're the top hat," and picks up his new polo and khakis, snagging a pair of socks from the package Darcy had so thoughtfully purchased, and heads into the bathroom.

He strips, pulling off the pair of loose pants he had been sleeping in back at the Tower, just that morning. _Feels like a lifetime ago._

By some divine miracle, Loki's long and presumably hot (the steam still hangs in the air) shower has not depleted the hotel's supply of hot water, so Bruce is able to find a comfortable temperature quickly.

He washes his hair first because it's starting to feel almost slimy with the amount of sweating that he's been doing, and then he digs around for the soap.

The bar falls to the floor of the shower twice, but he finally manages to get a grip on the slimy little bastard and lather up his body.

He scrubs with a washcloth, enjoying the scrape of the rough cloth against his skin, and loses himself in his thoughts. Reluctantly, his mind settles on Darcy's 'pep-talk.'

_How can she say the Other Guy's not bad? Doesn't she know what I've done? But...__ I can't help but kind of wonder if __she's __right, if I'm _not _a monster. But what does that make me, then? I'm certainly no saint. But Darcy never said I was a saint, either._

_Ugh. I just don't know. Can I accept that 'Hulk' is a part of me, that he, and therefore I, am not necessarily bad?_

Ruminating on this question takes some time, but eventually he's thunderstruck by the realization that _he can_. That he doesn't _have_ to hate himself, to vilify what is essentially an overblown defense mechanism.

He wouldn't go so far as to say that he's a _hero_, now, but he can certainly face the fact that what has kept him alive cannot be bad, because life, and the preservation of it, is sacred, according to every major world religion, every single spiritual advisor he's ever spoken to. The Hulk has only ever taken lives while protecting Bruce, and that's no different than what a soldier does, is it? He's sure that even _Captain America_ has killed in the line of duty before.

Standing under the spray, head bowed, he allows himself to feel _happy_, to set aside his consuming self-loathing for the first time in years.

The moment passes, and clinging to the memory of how conquering one of his demons makes him feel, he thinks about the second part of what Darcy said, that he has some sort of a mental block against dating.

With his new perspective, he realizes that she's _right_, that he has been subconsciously pushing people away because he didn't think he deserves happiness. But now that he's remembered what _happiness_ feels like, his desperate need to isolate himself is fading, replaced by something new.

He picks up the washcloth and runs it over his arms again, just to give his hands something to do.

_If I focus on it, I think I can do this. Get over it, allow myself to make friends, let myself be in a relationship._

This final realization floors him, and the washcloth falls to the floor of the tub with a wet 'smack.'

_I can tell Thor 'yes.' I _want_ to tell him 'yes.' Holy fuck._

He has to sit down, to put his head between his knees for a minute, his head spinning with all of the new information. This gives new meaning to the term 'information overload.'

But. He's in no danger of Hulk-ing out. It's not even a possibility, and the realization stirs him back to reality.

Now that he thinks about it, he can understand that fixating on the possibility of having an 'incident' has been his defense mechanism, the way to stave off any feelings, any emotions, to destroy the possibility of letting his guard down. And when he did experience emotion, like what had happened with Betty's letter, his body automatically went into panic mode, making him feel like he had to bring the Hulk out to keep the emotion at bay.

_Shit, I have one _fucked-up_ subconscious. Self-esteem issues, self-loathing, self-hatred, whatever I want to call it, I've got it. PTSD, too, probably, and who knows what else._

_I've been so busy worrying about protecting everyone else that protecting myself has gone by the wayside. So, my brain had to compensate by doing _this _to me, __twisting everything around__._

It's...intimidating, that something like this could happen and go entirely unnoticed, that his thoughts and feelings could become so skewed. But Bruce knows that this isn't _it_, that this isn't how it has to be. This can be fixed. Maybe through therapy, maybe hypnotism, maybe something else. But it can be _fixed._

Getting better, rejoining the human race feels _doable_, within his grasp. It's a great feeling, and for the second time in fifteen minutes, he's riding a high that he hasn't experienced in years.

There's another reaction to this overwhelming _joy_, too, one he's not expecting. Because he hasn't been hard since he saw Betty last, when he pushed her away, unconsciously isolating himself even then.

But thinking about all of this, thinking about the ramifications his epiphany could have on his personal life, looking at Thor earlier, has affected him.

He can feel the blood circulating in his cock. It's practically surreal, and he can't help but reach down, wrap his hand around his erection, and give it a few half-hearted tugs.

Before anything can happen, his high fades, and he's left with his half-hard cock in his hand and the knowledge that he _can't_ do this here, not with two people he's supposed to be protecting right outside the door.

It's an experiment that needs a controlled environment, possibly Hulk-proof walls, floor, and ceiling. Something that he won't get until he gets back to the Tower, and more than likely has a _very_ uncomfortable conversation with Tony.

But still, he's made a huge breakthrough, has, in the course of a shower, changed his entire damn philosophy. So he shuts off the shower, dries himself quickly, dresses in the new clothes, not even bothering to pull the tags off, and rushes out to where Darcy and Loki sit on opposite sides of the table, facing off over the Monopoly board.

Darcy is in his arms, and he's hugging, hugging tight like he secretly wishes someone would do to him. Her face is flushed, but she's smiling at him, and hugging him back.

Over his shoulder, she beckons, and, a little uncertainly, Loki stands up and slides up behind Bruce, putting an arm around him too.

Bruce is squished in a hug, and it's glorious, this feeling of having _friends_ again after so long, such a long time.

He's a bit starved for affection, practically dying from the want, to be honest. But that's okay, these two don't seem to mind this new _need_ of his.

After a minute, Loki puts his other arm around Bruce and Darcy speaks up. "Realized I was right, huh, doc?"

"You are a _genius_, Darcy. Amazing. _Thank you_," he says fervently, meaning every word.

"No problem, doc. Now, can we get back to our game? I was totally smoking Loki."

Bruce lets go of her, and she drops back into her seat, not even bothering to straighten her rumpled clothing. Loki gives Bruce one last squeeze before regaining his seat as well.

Darcy looks up at him. "Hey, doc, you might want to go detag yourself. You look kinda funny," she points to the tag sticking up out of his collar. "There should be some nail scissors on the counter if you want."

Bruce heads to the bathroom to do what she says, happier than he's been in a while.

* * *

Thor allows himself the liberty of thinking about Bruce on the flight back to the Tower, but once he lands, he knows, it must be all business.

Natasha meets him on the roof, dressed in a blazer and pants. He can see the slight bulge of hidden weapons where the clothing is too tight. "Glad you're back. Everything okay up there?"

"It should all be fine, thank you for asking. How are you all doing?"

"Not so hot at the moment. Go put your armor on and then come down to the thirtieth floor. It's where we've set up camp."

He does as he's told, taking the elevator down to the thirtieth floor after putting on his armor, left behind in his trip up to Canada.

Thor also puts his hair up in a ponytail. It makes him feel nice, to have that little bit of Bruce with him.

Tony and Steve sit at a long table across from several people in business suits, and Clint and Natasha stand in opposite corners, tense.

There are piles upon piles of paperwork, and Clint has a black eye.

Nobody else _looks_ injured, but Thor knows better than most that appearances can be deceiving. His experience with the imposter have taught him that much.

"Friends."

The suited people jump at his sudden appearance, but Tony and Steve look at him, relieved.

"Hey, big guy. Nice of you to join the party," Tony greets him.

"Hello. Can you come sit with us? They have some questions for you..." Steve trails off, knowing that what he's about to ask Thor to do won't have pleasant results. These men and women are far from polite. He can respect their ability to do their jobs, but he thinks they _could_ use a little more tact.

"Certainly." Thor doesn't want to give too much away; he doesn't know if these strangers are friends or foes. He takes a seat on the end of the row, leaving one empty seat between him and Steve. It's uncomfortable to sit with Mjölnir in his belt, so he slips it out and puts it on the empty seat. He doesn't _intend_ it as a display of aggression, but he cannot help how the other people in the room interpret the gesture, now can he?

Besides, straight diplomacy kind of went out the window when he put his armor on.

The people sitting across from him nod politely in his direction, and then the one in the middle, the man in the gray suit, speaks. "You claim to be the Norse god of thunder? The deity Thor?"

Thor _still_ doesn't know whether they are working for Tony or sent by SHIELD. Instead of answering, he crosses his arms over his chest and looks at Tony.

Tony sighs, but says, "Hey, back off, Sanders. You work for me, remember? I'm the one who's gonna make your whippersnapper's Christmas possible."

There's some undertone to Tony's words, something that Thor doesn't know, but Tony certainly knows how to handle himself in situations like this.

With his inquiry answered, Thor feels free to look at the man, Sanders, and answer, "There is no _claiming_ about it. I am Thor, god of thunder, chief among other things." There is no point in listing all of his many titles.

Unconsciously, he's adopted the formality that he would use with a visiting diplomat on Asgard.

Sanders waves a dismissive hand. "Very well. You are the biological brother of Loki?"

"No. Loki is adopted from another of the Nine Realms, Jötunheimr. However, he has lived on Asgard since the day of his birth."

"Asgard?"

Thor has to force himself to not snarl at the irritating man. "My home realm."

"Very well. Are you close with Loki?"

"Loki and I were raised as brothers. I am in my sixth century now, and he and I have been together all of that time."

"He's never...shown any inclination towards rebellion? Most adopted children react poorly when they discover that they are adopted."

_Damn_. "Yes. There has been one incident. It is resolved now." He hopes that they will let that go, but a petite woman at Sanders's elbow speaks up.

"Tell us about it, please."

"Loki did, indeed, discover that he was adopted. Our father fell into the Odinsleep, as it was his time, and Loki temporarily assumed the throne."

She interrupts, "Why not you?"

"I was away at the time. As I was saying, Loki assumed the throne and orchestrated the demise of the people who had so callously abandoned him to die before my, _our_, father found him. I returned. Loki believed that I had kept knowledge of his origins from him, so he fought me. I won, and Loki fell over the side of the Bifrost." Before any of them can ask what that is, Thor continues, "The bridge that leads us to our means of traveling between worlds. You would call it a teleporter."

Beside him, Steve frowns. This is a hell of a time to find out about this, and he's not sure that this story will work in their favor.

Thor decides to tell the rest, the part that paints Loki in a more sympathetic light. Because, really, he's _not_ a monster, or anything evil. He's Thor's brother, and Thor wants him back. "We searched for Loki, but we were unable to find him until I returned from Earth with a man I believed to be my brother, who had tried and failed to invade Earth. Our father recognized him as a traitor at once and was able to use his magic to determine Loki's location. We recovered him from his captors, and I brought him to Earth to recuperate."

"Well. We'll need to think about that. Do you have anything to add to what your _friends_ have said about Bruce Banner?"

Thor can no longer stop himself. "_Dr._ Bruce Banner," he growls. "And, yes, I do. Dr. Banner is a kind, caring man who no more wants to be a threat to your country than would a child."

Tony speaks up then. "Okay. Time for a break, I think. Team meeting, let's go. Sanders, crew, keep working. Double overtime, and more coming if you get this shit finished ASAP."

Natasha is the first out the door, Thor and Tony on her heels. Clint pushes off the wall to follow Steve out.

The elevator ride up to the sixty-seventh floor is completely silent.

When they have piled out of the elevator, Tony faces Thor. "I'm not blaming you for not telling us, big guy, but that's something we should have known."

Steve nods, "I agree. And don't you think what you said about Bruce might have been a little too much?"

Thor's punch catches the supersoldier off-guard, and sends him stumbling back a few feet.

Natasha springs to the middle of the floor, facing Thor down. "That's enough of that. Calm down, Thor, we just want to help you."

Clint has a hand on Steve's chest, talking fast into his ear. Tony just looks upset.

Thor grinds out, "I apologize, Steve. I should not have done that."

"Ya think?"

They all ignore Tony.

"However, I wish for you to stop treating Bruce like he's dangerous. He's _not_."

"Steve, Thor's right. You _have_ been treating Bruce kinda roughly since that day in his room. It wasn't something to get all worked up about, okay?" Clint's defense of Bruce is unexpected but appreciated.

"Okay, now that that's over, let's tell Thor what's been going on," Natasha says calmly, gesturing that they should all sit down.

* * *

**Reviews make me happy. And you want to make me happy, don't you?**


	13. Learning

**We broke 100 reviews last chapter, and that's fucking awesome. Y'all have no idea how much that means to me.**

**As always, I'm extremely thankful for dysprositos, my best beta buddy. She fixes my mistakes, gives excellent suggestions, makes me laugh, and is a wonderful person all around.**

**Also, thanks to TacoRaven, who pointed out something and then patiently sat through me messaging her constantly asking for her to explain what she meant in excruciating detail.**

**FYI: Lots of background here, based on my headcanon, the MCU verse, and a little bit of comic-verse thrown in.**

* * *

Thor sits heavily in the nearest chair as Natasha gestures, ready to have this conversation and see what the others have been up to.

Clint and Steve sit on a loveseat together, Steve still massaging his jaw. Thor doesn't really regret hitting him, not right then. Steve had it coming, putting Bruce down.

Tony sits in the only other available chair in the room, and Natasha goes over to perch on the arm lightly.

Thor notices Tony lean into her slightly, but he chooses to not say anything, knowing that they should work it out whatever's going on between them together. He doesn't want anyone to interfere with what he hopes to have with Bruce, after all.

Surprisingly, it's Clint who starts the conversation. "After you left, we went down to talk to the cops. Try and call them off. It didn't work," he breaks off.

Seamlessly, Natasha picks up the story. "The police were, shall I say, not especially inclined to listen to us. When we told them that Bruce and Loki weren't here, they insisted on searching the premises. They didn't have a warrant," she pauses, setting her jaw. Thor remembers that she has reacted similarly badly to a previous mention of social injustice.

Steve, a slight bruise now visible on his jaw, picks up where she left off, "That's illegal. We said 'no.' They started waving their guns around, getting up in Clint's face."

"I didn't like that," Clint says simply. "Steve and Nat made them back off, but that really kinda fucked with me. I was pissed."

"Clint tried to hit one of them," Natasha explains. "Steve stopped him, but he wound up knocking Clint into me. That's how he got the black eye."

Something about that doesn't ring quite true to Thor. It seems as though falling into Natasha would be insufficient to give Clint a wound that serious. But if they don't want to tell him exactly what happened, that's fine. He doesn't tell them everything, either.

"Hurts like a sonuvabitch, by the way," Clint interjects. Out of the corner of his eye, Thor sees Steve wince. Clint continues, "But anyway, I lost my head, blah fucking blah. Nat told them to fuck off unless they had a warrant. The head thug told her we'd be hearing from their lawyers. She said, 'good.'"

"And they left. We went back inside to wait for Tony to come back," Steve finishes.

Tony pipes up, "I got back about a half hour after all this fuckery. Had the lawyers over here soon after that, and they've been working through international law to get Loki exempted from the charges. As an alien, he has rights."

Natasha raises a hand warningly to Thor before she tells him, "Bruce is going to be a little bit harder. He's an American citizen, technically, so a different set of laws apply to him. But there's a special team researching right now. We're _not _going to give him up."

Tony adds, "JARVIS has his file, the one Coulson gave me before the shit hit the fan the first time, and it _says_ that the charges against Bruce have been dropped. They were when SHIELD took over his case from Ross." Almost as an afterthought, he spits, "Bastard."

"Ross?" Thor has to ask.

"You don't know?" Natasha replies.

"I do not. I wasn't given your files like I assume you were given mine. I was late to your 'party,' remember?"

"Well, Ross, actually, General Ross, was the military backer of the project that was working on recreating the supersoldier serum. Bruce was the lead scientist. Ross was impatient for results, and had scheduled a test of their compound on a criminal in exchange for a lessened sentence. Bruce was unsure about the stability of their compound, so he volunteered instead. And well, you know the rest. Hulk happened, and Ross deemed Bruce 'property of the military' and started chasing him across the globe. After the military failed to capture Bruce, his case was given to SHIELD. Fury and the Council made him an asset, thereby removing the multiple charges of 'international terrorism.' By all rights, he shouldn't be re-charged with the same thing."

Thor interrupts, "But he wasn't. The recording JARVIS played for us called him a 'suspected terrorist.' Is that not a different charge?"

Tony answers, "It is. But their lawyers aren't being forthcoming with information, and we don't have an exact list of his charges. But we do have Loki's and we're working on that as fast as we can."

"You say 'we.' But you don't mean _we_. You mean the rude people you are employing. Not you. Not us."

Steve stands up at this. "Thor. Calm down. We are doing the best we can. Tony's not a lawyer. He'd be more of a hindrance than a help." Steve shoots a look at Tony, who'd just heaved a huge, dramatic sigh, complete with rolled eyes, before continuing, "He's funding this whole thing. As for us," he indicates himself, Clint, and Natasha, "we've been running errands all day. Tony can't leave; there's a crowd of reporters camped outside, and he's recognizable."

Thor deflates. He feels helpless, but it is not fair for him to take out his anger on his teammates, the very people who are helping him. "I apologize." He waves his hands around, trying to illustrate the point, "I just feel so incapable. There is nothing I can do to make this better. I want to fix it." He doesn't say for whom he wants to make things better. It's better if they don't know about Bruce until Bruce gives him an answer. Hopefully that will be soon.

Clint tugs on Steve's arm until he sits down again, looking awkward and oh-so-young. Thor is reminded how juvenile his friends (because yes, that's what they are—friends) truly are.

Natasha looks Thor in the eyes, meeting his gaze squarely. "I know the feeling, Thor. Believe me, we're doing all we can. Now, why don't you go call the others and tell them that you got here safely. I think it's best that you stay here for the time being. We don't need anyone following you back to where the others are." The hesitance in the way she says that last phrase tells Thor that Tony has not told them where Bruce, Darcy, and Loki are. He needs to thank the engineer for that. It seems like the safest option.

But for now, he settles for, "Thank you, Natasha. I do know that. Please tell me if there's anything I can do." He pauses a moment, "Actually, don't ask me to go talk to those damn lawyers again. They bother me."

"Okay, Thor, fair enough. But if they need something, can JARVIS act as a go-between?"

Thor nods, and then leaves the room to the sound of Tony's joking protest, "What the fuck are you doing, whoring JARVIS out like that?"

He is cut off abruptly by the sound of skin hitting skin. Those two are well-matched, indeed.

* * *

In his room, where his bed and Loki's have been neatly made (not that Thor knows this, really, but the neat military corners and general precision mean Steve's been doing his nervous-cleaning thing), Thor feels free to scrub a hand over his face.

He's tired. So tired, and this battle has hardly even started yet. Waiting has always been one of his weaknesses, one of the few things Odin chastised him about.

One of the reasons he was exiled to Earth in the first place.

But it is a necessary evil, and as much as he hates it, he's sure that there are countless other things that he would despise worse. He just can't think of any at the moment.

After a moment of general hopelessness, of 'how-can-this-_possibly_-be done,' he puts Mjölnir on his bed and goes into the bathroom to splash some cool water on his face.

He doesn't want to sound distressed at all on the phone, after all. That would alarm his friends, and they don't need that.

"JARVIS, can you call the others?" He's not sure of the number, but he's sure JARVIS knows since Natasha and Clint have called their room before.

"Of course, Master Thor. Dialing now," and rings fill the room.

It takes three before Darcy picks up. It sounds like she's talking around food, the way her enunciation is. "'Lo?"

"Hello, Darcy. How is everyone?"

"Mhm. Okay, sorry, we're eating dinner. Everyone's good. Loki's a whiz at Monopoly, he kicked my ass twice. There's officially nothing on TV, and the books I got at Walmart are boring. Oh, hey, Loki does really funny impressions of you!"

She has to pause for breath, and Thor takes the opportunity to interject, "I am glad you all are doing well. I arrived safely, and I have spoken to the lawyers who are working on the case. They appear to be...very good at their jobs," he doesn't know how else to phrase that without it sounding like a criticism.

"That's great! Uh, you wanna talk to Loki?"

"Yes, please, Darcy. Thank you. I know you're a great help to him. And Bruce."

"No problem, big guy. I'm having a blast." The sound is muffled as she takes the phone away from her ear. "Loki, c'mere, Thor wants to talk to you."

Thor can hear Loki's breathing as he puts the receiver to his ear.

"Hello, brother! Darcy tells me that you're doing well, and that you have won Monopoly twice. That's great news! I hope you're having a good time. It's all going to work out, and we'll be reunited soon, I assure you. Oh, and Loki? I love you." Thor has not told Loki that enough recently, and after everything that's happened, he thinks it's important to start saying it regularly. He should have been saying it more often in the first place, and maybe then this situation wouldn't have happened. But that would have meant Thor wouldn't have met Bruce, and he doesn't regret that for a minute. It's all tangled up in his thoughts.

But Loki makes a soft sound in his throat in reply, so Thor asks, "Can I talk to Bruce?"

There's a shuffle, and Darcy speaks again, "Thor? Did you need something?"

"I asked to talk to Bruce."

"Oh, uh, he's, um, in the bathroom. Showering. Yeah. That. Sorry. Maybe later, Thor?"

Well, that's definitely a lie. It doesn't seem to bode well—that Bruce doesn't want to talk to him, but he knows better than to force the issue. "Please tell him that I asked about him, then."

"Okay, I will. Stay safe, 'kay, bro?"

"Thank you, Darcy. You as well."

He can hear the sound of the call ending on her end, so when JARVIS asks, "Should I hang up, Master Thor?" it doesn't surprise him.

"Sure, JARVIS. Thank you."

Before he can start pondering _why_ Bruce wouldn't talk to him, Clint comes to the door.

"Hey, Thor, can I come in?"

"Of course, Clint. Is something the matter?" Thor edges back to where he had put Mjölnir, just in case.

"Huh? Oh no, everything's just fine. No need to worry about anything. It's just... I want to talk to you for a minute."

"Certainly, Clint. Sit down?" Thor points at Loki's bed as he takes a seat on his own, next to Mjölnir.

Clint sits, perching awkwardly on the edge like he doesn't want to rumple the covers. "Uh, well, I just wanted to say thank you. It's good for Nat to have something to keep her busy. We're, um I mean both of us are, kinda messed up about Coulson's death. So it's good that she doesn't have time to really think about it."

Thor can understand that Clint finds it easier to talk about Natasha than himself, even going so far as to use her as an allegory, so he smiles and says, "I don't know that you should be thanking me for bringing SHIELD down upon you, but you're welcome for providing the distraction. I, too, have lost a mentor whom I cared very deeply for when I was younger."

Clint suddenly looks exceedingly young. In a small voice, he asks, "Does it get better? I mean, it just hurts so bad. My whole family's dead, but it didn't feel like this."

"It does. You will still remember him, because Coulson was a _good_ man, but yes, eventually you will be able to remember him with more fondness than sadness."

Clint nods and then straightens. "Thanks. And I'm sorry about Steve. He gets kind of weird when he's stressed. Something to do with what happened with his last team, I think."

"What happened?" Thor _really_ needs to read those files. He'll ask JARVIS for them in a bit, but right now he wants to hear Clint's take on it.

"Well, you know Steve's like ninety-something years old, right? He was born in 1918, almost a hundred years ago. He was real sick when he was a kid. But he took the supersoldier serum to help fight in World War II. You know what that is?"

"I do. I've read a basic history of Earth." Thor knows it's important to have _some_ knowledge about where he's going to be living, so he has done some reading.

"Okay, well, Steve got all buff and shit and he went to fight in the war. There was a supervillain even then, Red Skull, and he launched a plane carrying bombs aimed at every major US city. Steve got onboard, and he crash landed the plane up North, in a real cold place. Steve was frozen, and they didn't find him and defrost him until last year." Clint's voice cracks, "Coulson was so fucking happy. That's when I got shipped off to New Mexico. To watch you."

"You were there?"

"Yeah. I was. Coulson came too, a little later. I was supposed to shoot you when you came busting in, looking for Myu—whatsit. Obviously, I didn't."

"Well, I thank you. Being shot is never fun. And your bow looks like it would hurt. Especially when I was mortal."

"Hey, no problem. You've got some serious moves, you know. So, anyway, when Steve woke up, everyone he knew was either dead or couldn't be told that Steve was still alive. So he gets kinda antsy when stuff like this happens. All protective and shit."

"I can understand that. Perhaps I should speak to him?" Thor leaves that up to Clint, as the archer clearly knows Steve better.

"Yeah, I think that might be a good idea. Just not right now. He's going to town on a punching bag down in the gym, and unless you want to spar with him, you should let him get it out of his system first."

"Okay. I'll have JARVIS let me know when he's more available to talk."

"Of course, Master Thor," JARVIS says.

Clint rolls his eyes, but stands, reaching a hand out to shake. "Thanks, Thor."

Thor stands up too, but he puts out both arms instead. "I believe we are past the formality of a handshake, no?"

Clint shrugs, but steps forward to hug Thor. Thor is careful to not hug the archer too hard, knowing that his experiences with the imposter would have damaged him.

Clint leaves, and Thor is left alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Well, first things first. "JARVIS, can you pull up the files on the team that Tony mentioned earlier? And the 'supersoldier serum' that Clint talked about, is that what Bruce was trying to recreate?"

"The files are downloading now, Master Thor. The answer to your second question is 'yes,' though I think you should read about it."

"Thanks, JARVIS."

"You are welcome, Master Thor. If you would look to your right, the files have finished downloading."

The files are displayed in their minimized forms, hovering over the night table between the beds. Thor selects Natasha's and settles in to read, putting his back to the headboard and swiping the file to hover at shoulder height in front of him.

There is little information on her background, save a brief mention of something called the 'Red Room.' More data is available on her missions after joining SHIELD, and her partnership with Clint seems to stretch back that far, as they have gone on nearly every mission together.

Obviously they are close. Thor has seen their fluidity in battle, how they work together seamlessly, seeming to predict the other's actions before they happen.

He used to have something like that with Loki. Fighting in fraternity, working well together. Hopefully that can be salvaged. Thor knows that as Loki recovers, he and his brother will have troubles. Fights. But Thor is optimistic about his chances at regaining Loki's trust and friendship, and eventually brotherhood.

Rather than dwell on Loki, Thor reaches for Clint's file. His background is similarly obscured, but Thor can see that he received his training in the circus and was rogue for a while before SHIELD picked him up.

He has never taken orders from anyone beside Coulson and Fury. That much is clear. It is no wonder, then, that the archer is so upset over Coulson's death and Fury's betrayal.

The details of his missions overlap with Natasha's, so after a cursory scan, Thor pushes the file to the side, reaching for Tony's.

The engineer has been through a lot—losing his parents young, dealing with his mentor's betrayal, not to mention what happened in Afghanistan—in a relatively short life (compared to Thor's, at least). His file is more detailed than the agents', including details of his capture and torture that prompted the installation of the device in his chest.

There are few details on the device, called an arc reactor, other than its name and a few basic properties. And the fact that it nearly poisoned Tony to death before he created a new element to power it instead of what had been used in the original design.

Steve's file is next, but Clint's basic summary has covered its contents well. The picture of Steve before his procedure is quite telling. The future supersoldier is so tiny that Thor would wager that he's even smaller than Natasha.

So Thor pushes that aside, reaching for his own file. It's basic, just filled with the information that he had given Erik, Darcy, and Jane in New Mexico (there are exact transcripts of interviews with them), and speculations based on Norse mythology. A few of their inferences are so wildly outlandish that Thor has to laugh.

When he stretches out a hand for Loki's file, JARVIS cautions, "Master Thor, you may not want to do that. That file is highly inaccurate, based on details about the imposter."

JARVIS is right, Thor doesn't particularly want to read that. "Thank you, JARVIS. You're correct."

"Of course."

This leaves only one file: Bruce's. It contains highlights, probably from Tony or one of the lawyers looking through it for notes on Bruce's case.

The file goes into more detail on the procedure that created Hulk. A psychologist's speculation is attached to that part of the dossier, positing that Bruce's 'troubled childhood' had perhaps 'contributed to actualizing the Hulk.'

Thor just skims the rest of the folder, not wanting to pry too much into Bruce's affairs. That is not a good basis for a relationship, he knows, and anything that he knows about Bruce should come from Bruce.

But he feels no shame in enlarging the picture of Bruce included in the file and staring at it for the better part of ten minutes.

JARVIS interrupts his musing, "Master Thor, Captain Rogers has concluded his workout. He is en route to his room on the 75th floor. Would you like me to stop the elevator at your floor?"

"No, that's fine, JARVIS. I'll take the stairs up. Just... tell him I'm coming, will you?"

"Of course." And then a moment later, "He is expecting you, Master Thor."

"Thanks. Can you keep the files here so I can take another look if I need to?"

"Certainly. Can I do anything else?"

"No, but thank you, JARVIS."

Thor pushes all of the files back together to hover over the night table and stands, sliding Mjölnir into his belt, before thinking the better of that idea and instead leaving it on the bed.

Coming unarmed is a show of respect, and he wants to have a civilized discussion with Steve.

* * *

On Steve's floor, Thor knocks at the supersoldier's door. "Steve?"

Through the door, muffled, Steve calls, "Come on in, Thor."

Thor opens the door and walks into a large room, spartan in its furnishings. However, contrary to his expectations, Steve's belongings are strewn all over the room, giving it a more homey appearance.

Steve gestures to the couch, "Sit down, please."

Thor complies and watches Steve perch on the coffee table, shifting his legs out in front of him.

"Steve. I want to apologize again for hitting you. It was an overreaction."

"Hey, it's no problem. Already almost gone, see?" he gestures to his jaw, where indeed the bruise is yellowed, fading around the edges.

"Regardless, I shouldn't have hit you. I was in the wrong, and I am glad you're recovering." He pauses, shifting gears. "Now, I am curious as to why you are so distrustful of Bruce."

Steve wonders why Thor is so concerned, but he figures asking as much would just be rude. So instead he answers the question, "It's not him so much as what he represents. I know that's not fair to Bruce, but...it's just been rough, you know? I'm not even awake a year and aliens are invading, everything's going to hell, and I'm being asked to reevaluate everything I used to believe in."

Thor nods, "That is challenging, but I think you have risen admirably to it."

Steve's smile is faint, self-deprecating. "Thanks. But I used to have some troubles with aggression, went out and picked a bunch of fights, and Hulk just kinda seems like that to me, all that belligerence in one place. And Bruce _is_ Hulk. I just don't know," he says, shrugging. "I honestly don't know why I freaked out like I did."

"You care for your teammates, and you felt that he was putting them in danger," Thor suggests calmly. He does not like it, but he can understand.

"Well, yeah. Yeah, that sounds about right. And I need to 'chill out,' I know. I'm working on it. There just hasn't been a lot of time for self-reflection, you know?"

Thor can sympathize with Steve. For all he appears calm and collected, he has several difficult hurdles to deal with. "I do know. Perhaps you should try to get some time to yourself? I'm sure the others would understand, and it does not appear that your presence is vital at the moment. I can assist in anything that they need in your place."

Steve thinks for a minute, absently rubbing a hand across his chest. "Sure. I think that'd work. Would you, please, Thor?"

"I offered, didn't I?" Thor smiles.

Steve laughs, "Yeah, you did. Hey, thanks, Thor. I appreciate it. You're a real friend."

Thor stands, knowing that he should get out of Steve's way and probably go change out of his armor, too. Steve stands, too, and reaches out a hand to shake.

Not feeling comfortable initiating a hug with Steve like he had done with Clint, Thor takes it, and then is yanked into Steve, where the supersoldier puts his free arm around Thor. Thor follows his example, and breaks away after a minute.

"I'm going to go tell the others that you're taking some time off and that they should let me know if anything needs doing, okay?"

"Sounds great, Thor." And Steve grins like some of the weight of the world has been taken off his shoulders already.

* * *

When Loki offers Bruce the phone, he shakes his head frantically, indicating that Loki should give it back to Darcy.

He just _knows_ that if he talks to Thor now, he will tell him everything, completely lose his brain-to-mouth filter, and that's a conversation he wants to have in private, not with Darcy and Loki definitely listening in, and whoever's in the room with Thor. Because along with telling Thor 'yes,' there's a lot to talk about.

So he refuses the receiver and hunches his shoulders, pulling into himself a little.

* * *

**I had such a blast writing this one. Now, what do y'all think? Please?**


	14. Logistical Nightmare

**My beta, dysprositos, is awesome as always. She basically wrote the customs bit.**

**WARNING: brief discussion of mental torture.**

* * *

They all sit down to dinner a few hours later. Natasha drags Tony in by the scruff of his neck, and Steve, for once, is late, but the grin he's wearing when he drops into his chair speaks volumes about how well his afternoon had gone.

Conversations are fast and furious, jumping from one topic to another almost too fast for the others to follow. But they're smiling and laughing, and, despite the cloud hanging over their heads, they're happy.

Thor doesn't mind that they want to forget for a little while; he does, too, and knowing that there are people working on fixing the problem puts him in a good enough frame of mind that he can relax and laugh along with his friends.

Clint cracks a few jokes, and if his smile doesn't reach his eyes, then no one's willing to call him out on it.

After they eat, Steve slips off, and Tony drags Clint down to his lab, muttering something about redesigning his bow. Natasha smiles at Thor but goes towards the stairwell.

So Thor goes up to his room, tells JARVIS to let him know if he's needed, changes into a pair of sweatpants, and lies down, forcing his brain to turn off. It's a skill he's picked up from long campaigns—the ability to sleep at will.

* * *

The next morning, Thor is awakened by Tony and Clint, singing some awful song in unison, standing in the doorway to his bedroom.

He groans exaggeratedly and rolls over, throwing one of his pillows at them. Clint snags it in midair and throws it back.

Of course it hits Thor right on target, square in his face.

"Morning, sunshine," Tony chirps. "Sleep well?"

Behind the mocking facade is genuine concern, so Thor answers, "Not really. Dreams."

Neither asks him to elaborate, and Thor is grateful.

"Sucks. Well, get up and come on, Nat and Steve made breakfast, and they won't let us eat until you're there," Clint tells him.

"I'll be right there," Thor smiles.

They leave, and Thor throws the covers off and stands up, opting to skip the shower, and just puts on a shirt, not wanting to leave his friends waiting.

He pads barefoot down the hall and into the elevator, going down to the 67th floor where, as soon as the doors open, he sees Natasha and Steve valiantly facing down Tony and Clint, both of whom are trying to reach around them to get at the food on the table.

When the elevator dings, Tony turns towards the source of the sound and cries, "Thor! Come help us! They're being mean!"

The pout on his face would better suit a child, and Thor tells him so as he walks down the hall, easily putting an arm around each of Tony and Clint's shoulders and pulling them back.

Steve flashes Thor a grateful look as he and Natasha carry the plates to the table and seat themselves. Thor lets the other two go, and they race for the table, Clint diving into the nearest chair, forcing Tony to go around to the other side.

Thor follows at a more leisurely pace and settles into the empty chair.

They eat mostly in silence, though Thor can see them having a silent conversation with each other through body language and glances.

He feels left out, but he supposes that he will be included eventually, so he daydreams about Bruce and Loki, how having a family like that would work. The beginnings of an idea take hold at the edges of his mind, but he is soon pulled from his thoughts by Tony.

"Um, look, Point Break. We've got news for you."

Thor doesn't say anything (_What is going on? Is he the last to know?_), just looks at Tony like 'what is the point? what are you trying to say?' and Tony gets the message.

"Last night they found the contingency that gets Loki off the hook. They explained it, I wasn't fucking listening. The jist of it is that they're going to need you to sign some shit, but he can come back as soon as the paperwork is filed."

That's happy news (_Why does Tony still look so somber?_).

"But," Steve interrupts, "they've hit a bit of a snag with Bruce. The team that was working on Loki's case can switch to Bruce's now, so they'll have more people working on it."

_Oh. Well, no wonder they had all looked so upset. And acted so secretive_.

"That is indeed good news about Loki. Is the paperwork ready for me to sign?" Thor chooses to not say anything about Bruce, not wanting to make public anything more than he already has about his relationship with the scientist.

But inside, he's upset that Bruce cannot come back. Thor misses him, and he wants the scientist around. However, he can't blame them, it sounds as though Bruce's case is tricky, indeed.

Natasha answers him, "Not quite yet, they're still working on a few things. They should be ready in about thirty minutes, though."

Thor stands, picking up his dishes to take to the kitchen. "In that case, I will go take a shower and be prepared to leave as soon as I can."

"Sounds like a plan, big guy," Tony says.

"I apologize for not pitching in to help with the chores. Loki and I will do our share."

"Hey, it's no problem," Steve reassures, "we know you've got a lot on your mind."

"Thank you." Thor leaves, putting his dishes in the sink and running water over them.

He takes the stairs up three at a time, too impatient for the elevator.

* * *

After his shower, Thor pulls on some of the clothing that Tony had ordered for him.

Mjölnir held loosely in his hand, he tells JARVIS to take him to the floor where the lawyers are, and steps into the elevator.

He uses the reflective surface of the doors to school his expression into a game face, not wanting to give _anything_ away to these lawyers.

They present him with the papers, but he refuses to sign until Tony assures him that everything in the fine print is acceptable, and that Thor is not 'signing away his fucking firstborn' (Tony's words, not Thor's).

So he puts his signature, both in English and Runic, where the red sticky notes indicate, and a courier leaves immediately for the courthouse, where another team is standing by to file the papers.

That unpleasant task out of the way, Tony takes Thor up to his lab and shows him the plans for the individualized rooms he is designing, getting Thor's input on his and Loki's rooms.

It passes the time until Tony's phone rings and he listens to the other person, giving Thor a thumbs up.

JARVIS calls the others, and Tony's workshop is soon full.

Tony waves his hands around, signaling for quiet. "Okay, guys, here's the deal. Loki can come back. Darcy can, too. Thor's gonna fly up there to get them and shit. Good? Good."

But it's not good. "Tony, Loki does not like flying with me. I want to drive up there, so that he doesn't have to do something he doesn't want to do."

Natasha says, "Driving's a logistical nightmare, Thor. You sure you can't just fly him back?"

"No. I won't put Loki through something he doesn't want to do if it's not necessary."

Clint, of all people, volunteers, "I'll take him. Been wanting to do something other than run to the library and Starbucks all day anyway."

He's flippant on the outside, but really, Clint's not entirely convinced that this _isn't_ the Loki who'd mind-raped him, who'd taken his body over. He figures that a clean slate, at least figuratively, would be the perfect chance for him to make his move. And putting an arrow in that bastard's eye would be quite satisfying.

Natasha eyes him, long and slow and skeptical, and he tries to not let any of his thoughts show on his face, but she knows him too well for it to escape her scrutiny. In the end, though, she gives him a fractional nod, and he knows he's won.

"Okay, we can work with that," Steve asserts. "Tony, can they borrow a car? D'you want me to come, too?" he asks Clint. Steve doesn't know him as well as Nat, but damn, if he's picking up on something too, then Clint needs to do some serious work on his poker face.

Thor cannot see Clint's face, and thus is oblivious to Clint's real motivations. He claps a hand on the archer's shoulder in thanks without looking, eyes on the others who are making the plans.

Tony answers Steve, "Sure they can. Who do you take me for, Ebenezer Scrooge?"

Steve laughs at that. "No, just checking. Didn't want to jump to conclusions. Clint?" he prompts.

Clint says, "Nah, I got this."

Steve shrugs and tells him, "Sure, whatever you say. Let's go, we'll all see you two off," and starts for the elevator.

Thor is quick to follow. Behind him, Tony flings a quiver and Clint's bow at the archer, left on the table from when they were tinkering with it last night.

The archer nods his thanks and catches up to Thor, elbowing the demigod lightly in his exposed arm (Thor's wearing the sleeveless armor today).

Feeling the nudge, Thor looks down at Clint and smiles. He elbows Clint back, and then he notices the quiver and bow slung over Clint's shoulder.

Well, he can't really say he _blames_ Clint, but it's not what he would prefer, either.

However, he pushes that aside to make conversation with Steve and Tony about where they're going. Steve says he'll call the others once they get on the road, so that they know to pack and be ready.

Natasha pragmatically suggests that Bruce switch hotels, as there is a chance that Thor and Clint will be followed.

Thor agrees that it sounds like a good idea, and Steve promises to relay that information as well.

Natasha hands Thor an envelope, indicating that he should give it to Clint, so Thor does.

Tony points them to a large but nondescript sedan, and ushers them towards it with a wave of his hand. Clint takes the keys from Natasha and pops the trunk and tosses his weaponry inside, indicating that Thor should do so as well. He puts Mjölnir carefully next to Clint's quiver, not wanting to accidentally flatten anything.

As he walks around to the driver's side, Clint opens the backdoor and tosses the envelope onto the seat.

Getting in the passenger side, he has to push the seat all the way back—and he's still a little cramped—but overall he's comfortable.

They pull out of the parking garage, and Clint heads south.

Canada is north. Thor is confused.

Clint explains, "It's an old trick, to see if anyone's following you, make three right turns in a row. If they're still on your tail, they're either fucking _lost_ or trailing you."

As he speaks, he makes the first turn, sliding across two lanes of traffic to make a sharp right. No sooner are they on the new street than he twists the wheel again, making the second right.

They stay on this street for a little longer, Clint weaving around slower cars, eyes on the mirrors.

Thor tries to help, but he doesn't know how to drive, so he's quite useless. He adds learning to drive to his mental list of things-to-do, though. It's somewhere after 'kiss Bruce' and 'have a _real_ conversation' with Loki.

But Clint makes the third turn, and goes straight, staying in one lane. He leans towards Thor and says, "Can you see the dark green car back and to our left? They're on our tail."

Thor cocks his head to look in the mirror, and he sees the car. Wishing he could hold Mjölnir, he asks, "Yeah, can I do anything to help?"

Clint sees his hand flexing and smiles, "Nah, no need. I can lose this fucker, easy as that," and he snaps his fingers once.

Thor grins back, anticipating that this will be quite...interesting.

"You might want to hold on," Clint cautions, and then the car is speeding up, weaving in and out of traffic.

They make several sharp, fast turns, and then slow down enough to complete their three-turn check.

Nobody appears to be following them, the green car gone, so Clint turns north, reaching over to flick on the radio to a classic rock station, turning the volume down from where Tony had left it at 'earsplitting.'

They travel north in a companionable silence, Clint occasionally humming along to the radio under his breath and changing the station at the commercial breaks.

Thor is content to listen to the music, but when songs come on that he likes, he asks Clint their names so that he can acquire them at a later date. He's seen Darcy's iPod (briefly, Coulson had given it back to her personally right before Thor returned to Asgard with Sif and the Warriors Three), and he figures that he can get himself one like it. And maybe Loki would enjoy one too.

When they come up on the sign that says 'three miles to the border,' Clint asks Thor to get the envelope out of the backseat.

Thor twists around to do what he is asked. "Should I open it?"

"Yeah, see what alias they've given you. And tell me mine, too, please."

Thor opens it up and pulls out five small folders with the word 'passport' emblazoned across the front. He opens the first one, and it contains Clint's picture. "Your name is Carl Brown."

"Again? Ugh, Nat is so unoriginal. What's yours, big guy?"

Opening the second folder reveals that it is Loki's, and the third one is Darcy's.

In the fourth one, he finds a spectacularly unattractive picture of himself and his alias, "I'm Tom Smith, apparently. Why is my picture so markedly ugly?"

"It is? Lemme see," Clint leans over to take a look. Shifting back into his seat, he laughs and explains, "Uh, that's kind of a tradition in the spy world. Rite of passage and all that. Means you're one of us now, Tom."

Thor rolls his eyes at the sound of that name, but is happy that he is included. He has worried that he (and Loki) would be unable to fit in, but his friends are assuaging his fears.

He checks the fifth passport, and it is, as he suspected, Bruce's. Thor replaces the three additional passports in the envelope, putting it in the console and dropping his and Clint's onto his leg.

They continue on until they reach Canadian customs, where Clint slows and pulls into line behind a few other cars.

"They're gonna check our passports, so just act casual, okay? This shouldn't be bad, the Canadians aren't as uptight as the US is."

"I can do that," Thor replies, but Clint just snorts, driving up to stop next to a small booth. He collects the passports from Thor's lap and hands them both through the open window to the attendant.

The attendant looks at the passports, then through the window at the car's occupants. "What's the purpose of your visit today?"

Without hesitating, Clint answers, "We're going shopping."

Bored, the attendant nods. "How long will you be in Canada?"

"Couple of hours?"

The attendant nods again, handing the passports back and waving them through.

Clint tosses the passports carelessly into the backseat and speeds up, pulling onto the Canadian highway.

"Do you know where we're going?" Thor asks.

"Yeah, Tony told me. Don't worry, big guy, he can keep it on the DL if he needs to."

And 'DL' is an expression Thor has learned from Darcy on his first trip to Earth, so he nods and falls silent, content to watch the scenery.

This continues for a few miles, and then Thor speaks up, "How are you doing, Clint?"

Clint shrugs one shoulder, "'m good."

Thor doesn't want to overstep, but that's such a _blatant_ lie that he feels he must point it out. "No, Clint, I don't think you are. I can see the circles under your eyes, and how you're trying too hard to be 'normal.'"

"Look, Thor, I'm not trying to be rude, but it's really none of your business," Clint states flatly.

Thor raises his hands in surrender. "I can respect that. But please, just know that repression is only a good solution in the short term."

Sarcastically, Clint answers, "What, have personal experience with this or some shit?"

"Actually, I do."

"Well?" Clint prompts, after a lengthy pause. "Can't just fucking _say_ that and not explain."

Thor sighs. "In my third century, I was captured in battle. The enemy sorcerers had been torturing me for three days before my father and Loki found me."

"And that relates to alien mind-rape how, exactly?"

_I cannot get mad at Clint, he's hurt and just lashing out_, Thor reminds himself. "I said sorcerers. Meaning they invaded my mind, walked through my dreams, created demons from my worst nightmares and left me to battle them, alone in the stadium of my mind. It is not quite 'alien mind-rape,' as you say, but it is close."

Clint's body language is less hostile, and he looks interested in what Thor has to say. "Go on."

"My father and Loki found me, and I returned to Asgard. I refused to discuss what had transpired, not even with Loki," (that was one of their first, and most memorable, fights). "I trained hard and participated in every violent pastime that I could. I had nightmares at night, and could scarcely sleep. Loki eventually came into my room one night, drawn by my screaming, and finally coaxed the story out of me. Asgard was not as...progressive then as it is now, and I had felt that my burden was for me to bear alone. That it was unmanly for me to continue to relive this experience over again."

Clint is nodding slowly, almost like he doesn't even realize that he's doing it.

"But Loki convinced me otherwise, and every night for a year, he kept me company, waking me up from the nightmares and distracting me until I was able to go back to sleep."

"Distracting you how?" Clint asks suspiciously.

"We would play chess or other games of strategy," Thor pauses to see if Clint has any other questions, and when none come, he resumes, "After a year, I was sufficiently recovered, but I was still savage in all my undertakings. That's one of the reasons I was exiled."

"So basically, you were mind-fucked, Loki held your hand, and it got all better? Correct me if I'm wrong, but that seems like a load of _bullshit_." Clint's body language has gone back to 'hostile.'

"I cannot force you to believe me, I only offer my word that it is the truth. You have good friends, good teammates, and they will help you. I have seen Natasha watching you, caring for you. You cannot merely lock yourself up for a few days and then pretend like everything's fine."

"Wha—How the fuck do you know that's what I was doing?"

"Like I said, I've been there and done that."

Clint deflates, running a hand over his face. "Ugh. I just can't be mad at you, Thor. Promise I'll talk to Tasha when we get back, okay?"

Thor smiles, "That sounds like a good start, my friend. Let me know if I can do anything to help as well. I am good at keeping things on the 'DL.'"

Clint snorts at that, and they don't speak much for the rest of the drive except for "what is this song?" and "Journey. 'Separate Ways.' It's a good one." and a few other such inquiries.

* * *

About thirty minutes later, they complete the three-turn check yet again before pulling into the hotel parking lot.

Clint pulls his bow and quiver up, dropping them in the driver's seat as he vacates it, and goes to lean on the hood of the car, turning his face up to the sun, eyes scrunched shut. Thor joins him, but he watches the entrance to the hotel, wanting to see Loki (_and Bruce_, his mind adds) as soon as possible.

A few minutes later, Darcy, Bruce, and Loki troop out of the lobby, heading for them, each with an armload of Walmart bags.

Thor hurries over to hug Loki, embracing him tightly. His younger brother returns the embrace as best as he can without squishing his bags.

Darcy comes over to fling her empty arm around Thor, just barely reaching past him to Loki, joining the hug.

Bruce hangs back, twisting his fingers in his bags' handles. But his eyes are on Thor's face, and he looks cautiously optimistic, like he's glad to see Thor. It's a very good sign, and Thor can feel the smile on his face widening.

Thor takes the bags from Loki and tries to take Darcy's, but she stops him, "No, bro, I've got this. Girl power and all that."

"But I was going to put them in the car for you," Thor explains.

"Nah, I'm staying with Bruce over there. S'not fair to make him hang out up here on his own. Think of all the fun he'll be having!"

Bruce steps forward so that he can participate in the conversation without shouting. "No, Darcy, that's okay. You go back with the others, I'll be fine."

Darcy whirls on him, "_No_, Bruce. That's not fair, and you don't want to be alone." It's a clear statement of fact.

Bruce shrugs, hunching over slightly. "I'd like the company..."

"Good, then, it's settled. We'll be back in New York before you know it, but for now, we're going to paint this town red. Now, Thor, Loki's got all of his stuff in those bags, so give them back to him and we're just going to go put them in the car and say hi to Clint."

Loki takes the bags back and follows Darcy over to the car without any more commentary on her part.

They're alone.

Bruce looks at Thor.

Thor looks at Bruce.

* * *

***hides behind entire contingent of armored Avengers***


	15. Return

**I am very lucky to have a fabulous beta in dysprositos. She did a lot of listening to me about this one.**

* * *

Thor looks at Bruce, but before the demigod can speak, Bruce cuts him off, knowing that he needs to speak now before he loses his nerve, while the memory of his epiphany in the shower is still fresh within his mind.

"Thor. I've...thought about it."

"And?" Thor looks hopeful, almost as though he knows what Bruce is going to say before he says it. It's this look that gives Bruce the conviction to say what he does next. Because he's taking a big step, and it would be _so much easier_ if he just said no and left. He _wants_ this, though, and it seems that Thor does too.

"Yes. But there are conditions."

Thor beams and steps closer, but Bruce takes a step back, craning his head up to see Thor's face. He needs to be able to read Thor's expression (well, as much as he can given his social awkwardness).

"I'm very glad you've accepted, Bruce," Thor states, beaming.

"I am too," Bruce assures him, "but we need to talk about some things. Do you have to leave right away?"

"We lost our tail, so I don't think we have to go right now," he indicates a nearby bench. "Want to sit down?"

"Yeah," Bruce twists his fingers together nervously.

Thor reaches over and pulls his hands apart, gently releasing his left and holding onto his right, tugging Bruce to the bench.

They sit, turned to face each other.

"Um. Well. The thing is, my head's pretty...fucked up right now. I don't know that this will be fair to you because I'm going to have to work through some problems, conquer my demons before I'm anywhere near normal. I don't know if I can even do this." And there are a thousand reasons why he couldn't, why he _shouldn't_, but he pushes those away to finish, "But I'm selfish, and I want to try."

"We can work through your problems together."

Bruce hesitates. "That's really not fair of me to ask you, because you've got Loki, and he should be your priority. I know you two have had problems in the past, it's plain as day whenever you talk about him or look at him when he's not looking at you. And I don't want to be responsible for creating more problems between the two of you." Thor's concern for Loki is one of the things about the demigod that Bruce is _certain_ of, despite his inability understand others at some times.

Thor takes a moment to consider, biting his lip contemplatively, before he answers, "Let me worry about that. I promise that I won't put you above him."

"Okay. I've already been responsible for breaking up a family or two, and I don't want to do that again. It's not a good feeling."

"I am sorry to hear that you feel that way about what Hulk has done, Bruce."

"Not Hulk, Thor, _me_. That's a lot of the problem. But I don't think I have time to get into all of that now." _Nor do I want to_, he adds mentally. _Going to have to _sometime_, though, Banner_.

"I see." But Thor really doesn't. However, he's willing to let Bruce move along on his own terms.

"Thank you," Bruce smiles. "Um, well, Darcy helped me realize that I had subconsciously been dealing with things really badly, and I finally figured it out yesterday. So I really need to work on getting through some of that. I'm essentially reprogramming myself..."

"I'm glad Darcy was able to help. She's a wonderful person."

'Yes, she is. Um, did you have anything you wanted to say?" Bruce realizes that he shouldn't dominate the conversation, and that he's probably not the only one with some concerns. Because who _wouldn't_ be concerned about dating the Hulk?

"You understand Loki's importance to me, so I don't need to talk about that. Uh, I'm really glad you said yes?"

Bruce chuckles, "That's good to hear. I'm happy about it, too." And the truth of the matter is that he _is_, that this feels like it's going to be a good thing for him. He hasn't had any optimism in so long that even this little amount seems like a lot.

"The only thing I can think of is that I can't take you out right now. This situation is hardly ideal."

"I know it isn't. And that's okay, I can wait. It's probably better that I wait, anyway."

Thor raises an eyebrow, "And why is that?"

"Because I'm a little more confident that I can control Hulk than I was, but I have no data on what will happen, well, uh, when I get, you know, excited." He can feel his face heating up.

"You want to do controlled testing first."

It's not really a question, but Bruce answers Thor anyway, "Yes, I do. Is that okay?"

"You don't need my approval for something like that, Bruce. I'm your boyfriend, not your keeper. And if you feel that would make you more comfortable, then you should do it. I won't hold you back."

Bruce smiles when Thor refers to him as his boyfriend. "Is that what we are, then? Boyfriends?"

"That is the correct terminology, yes?"

"It is, I was just checking. Most people don't call themselves that until they've been dating for awhile. But...we're a special case."

"That we are," Thor agrees. "Now, do you mind if the others know?"

"Not really. I mean, Darcy knows and if Clint hasn't figured it out by now," he gestures in the direction of the car, "then I have no idea why they call him 'Hawkeye.'" Bruce knows that lightening the mood is important; he doesn't want them to get bogged down in the heavy stuff and then part on sour terms. _I've already got enough to worry about..._

Thor snorts. "True. I'll rephrase my question, do you mind if I _tell_ the others, rather than waiting for the gossip to spread?"

"...No, I don't. I'd kind of like that, actually." It would seem that Thor is proud to be dating Bruce, and that makes him feel warm inside. It's been so long since anyone _wanted_ Bruce around, much less wanted to be _close_ to him like this.

"Good. Then I will."

They don't talk much after that, content to sit and drink the other in.

After about five minutes of this, Darcy comes over to their bench. "Sorry to interrupt, boys, but Thor, Clint says you need to leave, and Bruce, we'd better go find a room."

Thor grins up at her, "Bruce said 'yes,' Darcy!"

"I figured he would, but that's good news, big guy! Now come on, I'm getting hungry and I bet Loki is too."

At the mention of Loki, Thor gets to his feet, presumably not wanting to leave him uncomfortable and waiting on Thor.

However, his hand is still entwined with Bruce's, and Bruce stumbles to his feet along with Thor, who automatically steadies him.

Bruce shifts his grip and walks forward with Thor. They arrive at the car, and Bruce says, "Hey, Clint. Loki, well, I want to tell you myself. I'm dating your brother, apparently. I hope that's going to be okay with you." For some reason, it's important that Bruce tell Loki himself. He supposes that's because of their close proximity the last few days. And well, maybe he wants to know for himself if Loki will approve, because if he doesn't, then this is over before it even begins. Bruce can't, _won't_, ask Thor to put Loki's wants aside for him. It's not worth it.

However, Loki throws his arms around Bruce, who eases his hand out of Thor's so he can return the embrace. "Guess that's a yes, then."

In response, Loki hugs him tighter. It's kind of nice, having a friend like this. Bruce is looking forward to being able to know Loki better. He seems like an intelligent man, and well, he's capable of magic and Bruce would be a poor excuse for a scientist if he didn't want to examine_ that._

Thor stands to the side, apparently letting them have their moment before asking, "Are you hungry, Loki?"

Bruce feels Loki squirm, so he immediately releases the demigod-he knows from experience that survivors of traumatic incidents like what Loki has been through shouldn't be forced into physical contact that they don't want. Loki nods in answer to Thor's question.

Clint takes that moment to walk around and join their little group, reaching out to pat Bruce's shoulder. It's nice that the archer would casually touch him like that, and Bruce adds that mentally to his list of 'proof I'm not a monster.' "Heya, Bruce. Good to see you. We do need to leave now, Thor, but we can go through a drive-through on the way back."

"That sounds good," Thor replies. "Should we leave now?"

"I think so. Oh, wait a sec, I need to give Bruce and Darcy their passports. Lemme go get those."

Clint opens the passenger door and roots around through the console, pulling out the two small folders and handing them to Darcy along with a small plastic bag.

"Thanks, birdbrain. Good seeing you again, for all of five seconds." Darcy moves to hug Loki, who bends down to put his face against her hair. "I'll see you soon, but you keep that brother of yours in line, hmm?"

Loki nods, and Darcy hugs him tighter before letting him go and picking up the bags on the ground at her feet. "You comin', doc?"

"Just a minute, Darcy." Bruce stretches up on tiptoe to put his arms around Thor's neck, and the demigod hugs him back, lifting him up so that his feet swing a few inches off the ground. It's an interesting feeling, but Bruce feels confident that Thor's not going to drop him. It's also only the third time he has initiated a hug in years, the first two being with Loki and Darcy back in the hotel room yesterday.

"Take care, Bruce," Thor says as he sets Bruce back on the ground carefully, waiting to let go until he is sure that Bruce has his balance.

"You too, Thor. I mean that." Bruce tips his head back to look Thor in the eyes, and smiles at the gentle sincerity he sees there.

"Okay, lovebirds, let's get this show on the road," Clint interrupts.

Bruce smiles one last time at Thor before bending down to pick up his bags and follow Darcy back to the lobby so that they can call a cab.

* * *

Thor gets back into the passenger seat but twists around slightly so that he can keep an eye on Loki, who stretches out diagonally across the back seat, his legs too long to fit normally.

Clint replaces his bow and quiver in the trunk before hopping into the driver's seat and asking, "Hamburgers sound good?"

"Sure," Thor answers, and he sees Loki nod his acceptance.

Fiddling with the mirrors, Clint makes sure that he can see his passenger in the backseat, knowing that if Loki's going to make a move, it'll be now, when Clint is at his most vulnerable and Thor is unlikely to oppose him. So he sees Loki's nod as well.

Thor smiles, telling Loki about helping Tony plan their customized rooms and what they have to look forward to after the construction is completed.

Clint is content to listen, keeping one eye on the road and one eye on Loki, until he spots the sign for a McDonald's. "Hey, I'm gonna pull in here. What do you want?"

"How many burgers, Loki? And do you want fries?" Thor asks.

Loki hold up two fingers and nods again, so Clint turns to Thor, "What about you, big guy?"

"I would like three burgers, please, and some fries as well. Loki and I would like water, also."

Clint smiles at Thor, and pulls up to the speaker, placing their order and then driving around and paying with cash pulled from his wallet.

They soon have their food, and Clint turns the radio on low, probably because they are going to be too busy chewing to speak, Thor figures. He has noticed that Clint does not like silence, always seeming to want some kind of noise around him.

Thor passes Loki his burgers, fries, and water bottle, and unwraps his first sandwich, observing Clint eating with one hand and driving with the other. It seems to require little effort on his part, but he remains vigilant, watching the road constantly, so that sometimes when he raises his hand to his mouth, he misses the burger and bites into air.

His burgers are eaten quickly, and Thor shifts so that he can watch Loki eat, glad that Loki has gotten over his need to have all food checked before he will eat it. His brother's appetite seems to be returning as well. It's a good sign.

After they have finished eating and have gathered all of the trash back into the bag, Clint indicates a sign for a rest stop and says, "I'm gonna pull in there so we can use the bathroom and stretch for a minute. I'm also gonna need you to do something for me, Thor."

Thor is curious about what that might be, but he decides to wait and let Clint explain rather than pressing for details, figuring that would be better for the archer.

They pull in, and Clint gets out, throwing their bag away and pointing to the small building nearby. "That's the bathrooms. You coming?"

They all go in, and the building is cool, well-air conditioned. Loki goes to look through the brochures while Clint and Thor go into the bathroom.

When they come out, a young couple is staring at Loki, talking quietly to themselves. Clint signals to Thor that they should leave quickly, so Thor goes to put an arm around his brother's shoulders and usher him out of the building, steering him quickly to the car.

Once they are back in their seats, Clint speaks, "They probably recognized him. He does look a whole fucking lot like the guy who tried to take over the city." His tone is bitter. "Maybe he should get a haircut? Anyway, Thor, we're going to be back at customs soon. And unlike the Canadians, the Americans are total douches, and there's a good chance that they'll search the car. So having whatsit and my bow in here aren't going to cut it."

"Okay," Thor responds slowly. "How can we fix this?"

"Well, can you fly them over? Just leave now and meet us in about fifteen minutes on the other side?"

Thor doesn't like this plan. Clint seems to be resentful of Loki, and he is hesitant to leave them alone together. "Would that be okay with you, Loki?"

Loki shrugs, and Thor agrees. "Do you want me to leave from here?"

"That would probably be best. Let me open the trunk."

He does, and Thor retrieves Mjölnir and Clint's bow and quiver from underneath Loki's bags, carefully putting them over his shoulder.

"Um, just go back into the trees a ways, so that nobody sees you fly, and land in the trees, too, okay? Meet up in about fifteen minutes, about three miles on the other side?"

Thor remembers seeing the three-mile marker, so he's confident that he can find his destination. "That's fine." He debates with himself for a moment before adding, "Loki will be fine with you, right?" He just can't leave without being certain.

Clint winces slightly but says, "Sure he will. Lemme give your passport just in case they wonder why we're carrying around an extra one."

As Clint ducks back into the car to retrieve Thor's passport, Thor asks, "Can you explain customs to Loki?" Loki should know, and maybe the distraction will help ease Clint's mind a bit.

Tucking the folder into his pocket, Thor smiles at Loki, who has gotten out to move into the front seat. "I'll see you soon, brother. I love you."

Loki smiles back, before ducking his head and fiddling with his seat belt. Clint waves to Thor and gets into his seat.

Thor turns and strides back into the trees as Clint had suggested, walking until he is sure that nobody is around before swinging Mjölnir and lifting up high enough that he will not be spotted from the ground, careful to not spill any of Clint's arrows from the quiver.

* * *

A little later, he lands near the three-mile marker and heads to the edge of the forest to wait for the others.

About two minutes later, the car pulls off to the side of the road, and Loki gets out, returning to the back seat. Thor gets in and puts Mjölnir between his feet, balancing Clint's quiver and bow across his lap.

Clint looks different, more withdrawn into himself, and he does not speak the rest of the ride back to the Tower, keeping the radio on low, only showing any animation when he changes the station or makes a face at another driver.

Thor has turned to rest his hand on Loki's knee, and he closes his eyes, resting his head against the window. He plans what he wants to do with Bruce when he can finally take him out on a date.

Loki holds Thor's hand and watches out the window.

When they pull back into the Tower's parking garage, Clint parks the car, turns off the engine, snags his weapons off Thor's lap, and jumps out, all before Thor has even gotten his seatbelt unbuckled.

The others are coming into the garage, and Clint grabs Natasha's arm, pulling her behind him as he heads down the hall in the direction of the elevator.

Steve and Tony come over to greet Loki, smiling cautiously but friendly.

"Hello, Loki. It's nice to see you again." Steve is as diplomatic as always.

Tony, well, not so much. "Hey, there, Thor, Loki. What the fuck's wrong with Clint?"

Surprisingly, Loki pulls back into himself a little at this. Thor surmises that something must have happened in the car while he was flying, but he has no way to find out what unless he asks Clint. That's certainly not a good idea.

"I'm not sure. I think he is realizing that he has some problems to address. I suggested that he should talk to Natasha; she seems like a good friend."

Steve turns towards the door slightly, "Should I go check on him?"

"Nah, Steve, let him have his space. Natasha'll let us know if we can do anything. Any news, Point Break?"

Thor beams. "Yes, there is. Bruce has consented to be my boyfriend." He watches Steve closely, remembering how the supersoldier had reacted to a suggestion of their being together previously.

"That's great news!" Tony exclaims. "Isn't it, Steve?"

"Um, yeah, it is. Good for you, Thor." Steve's smile looks a little forced, though.

"Loki, would you go with Tony? Maybe he can show you his plans for your room?" Thor prompts gently.

"Huh? _Oh_, sure, come on, pal, let's go do that."

Tony starts for the door and Loki follows, leaving Thor alone with Steve.

"Steve, I understand that you come from a different time. However, I hope this will not cause any issues with you."

"It's not that I come from a different time, not at all. It's just, damn," Steve runs a hand down his face, "there's a lot going on right now. When I was younger, I refused to even entertain the idea because it was _expected_ because I was small. And then I was Captain America, and oh no, _he_ can't be different."

Thor reads between the lines of that convoluted explanation. "You're conflicted?"

"How'd you know that?" And Steve's words and facial expression so closely mirror Clint's that Thor has to laugh.

"You are not difficult to read, Steve. And I remember how it was for me at first." A wave of nostalgia washes over Thor, and he smiles at the distant memory before shaking his head and focusing on the conversation at hand.

"Ugh. Yeah, difficult's an understatement. I hadn't even allowed myself to think that I might _be_ gay, but now I'm thinking about it and I just...can't. There's so much going on, so much to think about."

This sounds a lot like what Bruce had said earlier, and Thor knows that these two are much more alike than they would think. Perhaps they should talk about it? "It's a hard thing to reconcile, isn't it?"

"Yeah, that's it. I'm not really able to deal with this properly. It won't just go in a little box; I can't compartmentalize it. And I feel terrible for having a personal crisis at a time like this. Nobody should be worrying about me. It's not right."

"I can understand that. But, I don't think it's _right _that you should so undervalue yourself. You're a valuable member of this team and we are all here for you. If you ever want to talk, I'm sure any one of us would be happy to listen. You don't have to do this all by yourself. Please don't, that's when it starts messing with your head."

"That's good to know, thank you, Thor. I'll try to open up more. I really am happy for you and Bruce. If anybody needs me, I'll be in the gym."

Steve leaves the garage, and Thor retrieves Loki's bags from the trunk and picks up Mjölnir, sliding it under his arm. He replaces the keys on the rack and walks down the hall to the elevator.

"JARVIS, where is Loki?"

"Master Loki is in Mr. Stark's workshop on the 77th floor. Would you like to stop and put those bags away first, Master Thor?"

"Sure, thank you, JARVIS."

Thor takes the elevator to the 74th floor where he puts the bags on Loki's bed, and, after a moment of consideration, puts Mjölnir on his.

He won't be needing it here in the Tower among friends.

* * *

In Tony's workshop, Thor finds Loki toying with some of the holographic schematics for his proposed room, making a few changes.

Tony is the first to spot him, "Oh, hey, Point Break, Antlers here has really made some good suggestions. Wait, he still has them," Tony mimes the horns from Loki's helmet, "right?"

Thor smiles indulgently. "Yes, he does. However, I'm fairly sure that he doesn't like being referred to like that."

"Oh, well. I'll think of something. Here, pull up a chair and give me a hand. Congrats again, by the way. I think you'll be good for Bruce. He needs to get his head out of his shell."

"To what are you referring?" Thor has heard this expression before, but he's never gotten a chance to ask about it.

"A turtle. You've never seen one?"

When Thor shakes his head, Tony tells JARVIS, "Pull up a picture, no, scratch that, a video."

JARVIS does, and then Thor understands the phrase. "Ah, yes, I suppose he does. However, that is for him to decide."

"You're a good guy, Thor."

They work until dinnertime, Tony explaining some of his projects and allowing the Æsir to assist him.

* * *

**Quite a bit going on here; what do y'all think? Reviews make finals week easier...**


	16. Realization

**I cannot say enough good about dysprositos. She's the best. Case in point, check out the fuckawesome new cover. She made it and has listened to me rave about it ever since. Thanks, best beta buddy!**

* * *

Darcy has called a cab, and she uses Bruce as a source of shade while they stand out front of their old hotel to wait for it. She gripes about concrete cities and the severe lack of vegetation ("Even the _desert_ was better than this"), and Bruce hums at the appropriate places, his mind still wrapped up in Thor. _  
_

When the cab pulls up, Darcy bundles the two of them inside, glaring at the driver when he looks askance at their plastic shopping bags from Walmart.

"Where's a good place to stay around here?" she asks.

"Cheap?" he grunts back.

"Nah, I don't wanna sleep with roaches." Darcy pulls a face at that.

"There's a B&B on the outskirts of town."

Darcy looks at Bruce, Bruce shrugs, and she says, "Fine."

The cabbie starts the engine, and they drive to the bed and breakfast. She tips the driver well, and while she's occupied with that, Bruce snags most of her bags, trying to show his appreciation for her nonverbally.

He'd never admit it, but if she wasn't here, he would be tempted to cut and run, go back up north. _The Arctic's a good place for self-discovery_, he thinks ruefully.

Darcy rings the doorbell, and an older woman comes around the side of the house, wiping grimy fingers on her pants.

"Hello, dearies, I'm Mae Anderson. This is my place. You two looking for a room?"

"Hi, Mrs. Anderson, I'm Darla and this is my brother, Bill. We came up here to get away from everything, but," she gestures to the bags in their hands with her chin, "it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. Do you have a room available?"

"'Course I do. But there's only one, with a double bed. You gonna be okay to share, honey?"

"That's fine. S'not like we've never done it before or anything. How much?"

"Seventy-five a night, sweetie. I make a hot breakfast and dinner every day, and there's always fixins' in the fridge for lunch."

"Sounds good; we'll take it," Darcy holds out her hand to shake.

With a smile, the woman says, "My hands are a bit dirty. Come on in and let me get washed up, and I'll give you the key, hon."

"Yes, ma'am," Darcy smiles back. When Bruce doesn't smile, he gets a subtle elbow in the ribs. He promptly pastes a smile on his face, though it feels forced.

The proprietress doesn't seem to notice, leading them in through her mud room, where she pauses to clean her hands in a large utility sink. In the kitchen, she pulls a room key off the hook and hands it to Darcy.

"I ask for payment up front, but I'm guessing that you two don't know how long you're going to be here, right?"

"That's right, Mrs. Anderson."

"How about you just pay for three nights, and we can talk again after then, hmm?"

"Sounds good, ma'am!" Darcy digs around in her pocket and produces a credit card.

"The reader's in the foyer, sweetie. Maybe Bill wants to go on upstairs? Second room on the right?"

After Bruce says nothing, Darcy elbows him again. "Huh? Oh, sure, thank you, ma'am." Darcy passes him the key, and he turns toward the door, before turning back around. "_Where_ are the stairs again?"

Mrs. Anderson chuckles, "Out the door and to your right, dearie." To Darcy, she comments, "Sounds like he does need a break."

Darcy sighs, "Yeah, he works too hard. And he's stubborn as a mule, too."

The landlady is gearing up to be sympathetic, Bruce can tell, and he doesn't exactly want to stick around for that, so he quietly slips out of the room, ascending the staircase and following her directions to their room.

Juggling the bags, he lets himself in, and drops down on the bed after placing his burden on the armchair under the window.

A few minutes later, Darcy comes in and adds her bags to the stack. "You okay, Bru?"

He sits up, "_Bru_?" Honestly, where does she come up with this? _But at least it's not 'Big Green,'_ he notes ruefully.

"Ha, yeah, didn't think that would work. But it was worth a try, right?"

Bruce shakes his head at her, but answers her original question, "I'm fine, I guess. Just a lot going on."

"I bet. Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really, but thanks anyway. Good job handling the owner, by the way."

"Clint gave me a few pointers while you and Thor were snuggling. And he told me our pseudonyms. Apparently Tony picked them."

"Sounds like something he would pick. Are we really supposed to be related, or did you make that up so that she didn't think we were having an affair or something?"

Focusing on something else helps Bruce get a little perspective, and his head begins to clear. Joking around, he can do this.

"Haha, very funny, _Bill_. No, our last names aren't the same, but I can always say I'm divorced or some shit. And I figured something like this," she indicates the one bed, "would happen, so it's good to have a story..."

"Good thinking," Bruce praises, moving to sit up on the pillows.

Darcy moves to rest her head on his shoulder. "Let's just stay here for awhile, okay?" He knows she and Loki were becoming close, and she must be missing him. The demigod is good company.

There are a thousand things Bruce could say to this, not many of them positive, but he says none of them, instead reaching an arm cautiously around her, and when she doesn't protest, he makes his hold more secure.

* * *

A little later, Darcy shifts and squirms out from under his arm. "My butt's gone to sleep," she explains, and Bruce takes mental stock of his body, and realizes that yeah, he should get up too.

After Darcy moves around for a minute, bouncing on the balls of her feet, she goes and digs around in the stack of bags, coming up with a small notebook and a pack of pens.

"Here, I know you said you don't want to talk about it, but this might help. Get some of your thoughts out of your head."

Bruce takes the supplies from her, arching an eyebrow.

"I got them for Loki, but that's a moot point now, isn't it?" She hunches her shoulders defensively before moving to the TV.

"Hey, you know, saying I can talk to you, that's a two-way street, right?"

"Yeah, thanks." After a moment, she adds, "Can I tell you something? Something kind of...mean?"

"Sure, Darcy."

Bruce's not sure _what_ he's expecting, but it sure as _hell _isn't, "I heard some of what you were saying earlier, about Hulk, and I don't think he's something, no, some_one_, to be _controlled_. Think about it, huh?"

"...Okay," Bruce says slowly. That's not an angle he's ever considered before.

Darcy turns the TV on and fishes around for the remote, flopping back onto the bed. Bruce gives a little half-wave before going into the attached bathroom and locking the door behind him, turning to sit on the side of the bathtub, putting his head in his hands.

He's not really upset with Darcy. As usual, she continues to surprise him with the power of her insight. He should do something nice for her. _Do girls still like flowers?_

But thinking about Darcy isn't why he came in here to be alone, and he knows it. Reluctantly, he turns his mind to what he had realized two days ago: that his body started manufacturing Hulk-out warning signs whenever he felt something strongly.

_Emotions. Like the nostalgia and...guilt when I opened Betty's letter. And even happiness. It's like I _want_ myself to be depressed._

Bruce doesn't know of an easy way to fix this, doesn't think there is one. He'll just have to take it one incident at a time. Every time he starts feeling...something, he's just going to have to take a few deep breaths and concentrate. Work through the surge of the usually calm sea in his mind.

Darcy had said that Hulk wasn't a bad person, but did Bruce even see him as a _person_? For so long, Bruce had seen Hulk as a monster, as some_thing_ sent to torment him.

But if he thinks about it, really _thinks_, he can remember Hulk as far back as his memories go (_deep breaths, Banner, he's dead now_), back when he was a child. Back when he had a mother.

Bruce can remember cowering in the back of his closet, whimpering, and a voice in his head alternately roaring and comforting. In a way, it reminded him of what his mother would do, how she would protect him only to become the one who needed protecting.

With that image firmly in mind, he flips open the notebook and begins a list on the first page: Hulk — Pros and Cons.

Surprisingly, the Pros column fills faster than the 'Cons.' It includes such items as Hulk's seeming ability to learn and the fact that he had taken on the role of Bruce's childhood protector. Cons include the fact that the Hulk has a rap sheet the size of Tony's ego. And has killed people.

Bruce can't think of anything else to add, so he flips to a blank page and makes a few notes about testing his ability to have sex, noting the variables and the different types of tests he will need to do. He hasn't done anal play since one wild week in college, and he's not sure how _he_, much less Hulk, will react to that.

If Thor even wants to have sex with him at all. He's hit with a crippling wave of self-doubt, of unworthiness, and he's presented suddenly with an opportunity to test his new prevent-feeling-like-a-Hulk-out-much-less-an-actua l-one theory.

He puts his head between his knees and breathes deeply, in and out, in and out.

After a moment, he sits up and shakes his hair out of his eyes, smiling. Other than symptoms a detached part of his mind noted as similar to the beginnings of a panic attack, he is _fine_. Better than fine, actually, he can't feel Hulk stirring at all.

It's a good feeling.

Standing up and letting the notebook fall to the floor, he opens the door and goes out to Darcy, smiling. Obligingly, she scoots over and lets him climb on the bed next to her, putting an arm around him and muting the TV.

"Figure somethin' else out?" she asks sleepily.

"Yeah," he states succinctly.

Shaking her head a little, probably to wake herself up, she answers, "That's great, doc. Really great! You done thinking for awhile or do you wanna go back in there?"

Bruce cocks his head to the side, thinking it over. "Nah, I'm good for now. What're you watching?"

"Some shitty Lifetime movie. This joint has like twenty channels. I'm pretty sure that's illegal in practically every state."

Bruce laughs lightly, "Probably is. Explain the plot to me, huh? Who's that?" he points at the actor on screen.

Darcy, fully awake now, launches into a long-winded explanation of the story, complete with mimicry and animated gestures. Bruce pulls back, stuffing a pillow behind him on the couch and settles in to have some fun.

* * *

The next morning Mrs. Anderson knocks on their door at 8 AM, calling them down to breakfast.

Darcy rolls out of bed and runs a brush through her hair, giving Bruce an impatient look.

"Coming, coming, sheesh. Give me a minute."

Bruce stumbles into the bathroom, hearing Darcy's loud sigh behind him.

When he comes out, she grabs his hand and pulls him down the stairs and around the corner into the dining room.

Mrs. Anderson introduces them to the other occupants, two women and an older man. The women are both absorbed in novels, occasionally pointing something out to the other, and the gentleman is eating one-handed, the other holding up the newspaper.

Darcy, despite her earlier joviality, retreats back into silence, so Bruce eats quietly, examining the pictures on the wall and then making conversation with the proprietress when she notices his interest.

It's more strange human interaction than Bruce would like in the morning, and he's relieved when Darcy refills her coffee and stands up, "Do you mind if I take this upstairs with me? I'll bring the mug back down in a little while."

"Sure thing, sweetie. If you spill it, let me know and I'll get you the cleaning supplies."

"Thanks, ma'am."

Bruce follows Darcy back upstairs where she crawls back under the covers, coffee in hand.

"You go shower, okay, Bruce?"

He mock salutes her (_A military joke and you're not cringing, good job,__ Banner_) and does as he's told.

* * *

After his shower, he finds Darcy looking more human, sorting through her bags.

"Hey, would you take the cup down for me? Maybe we can go take a walk or something in a bit, huh?"

"Sure, Darcy."

Bruce takes the mug down to Mrs. Anderson and asks her about a good place to take a walk nearby. She recommends a trail at the local park, and Bruce thanks her, going back up to their room, intending to find a book and read until Darcy's ready.

But his notebook and a green pen are placed conspicuously on top of the neatly made bed.

So he shrugs a little and opens the notebook to a blank page, doodling absentmindedly, trying to figure out what else to add.

He realizes with a start that he's drawing Mjölnir. Well, in his brain it translates to mye-uh-myu-the hammer, but it's basically the same thing.

That leads to thinking about Thor. Bruce knows they have a lot to talk about, and he knows he really should try to explain about his self-esteem problems, at the very least. _It's a sad day when that's easier to talk about than the __big __green elephant in the room, Banner_.

Maybe they can talk on the phone later? Bruce is not really sure _how_ the logistics of this whole being-on-the-run thing is going to work. It was so much easier when he could just cut and run, taking the clothes on his back and nothing else.

But he thinks that having friends who've got his back is infinitely better than the alternative, and the company's not so bad, either.

On cue, Darcy opens the bathroom door, sticking out her towel-turbaned head. "Everything okay, doc?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. ...But, how are we supposed to contact the others? They don't know where we are?"

"Clint gave me a burner phone when he gave me the passports. Should be over there," she gestures in the direction of the stack of bags on the armchair, "somewhere. Their number's programmed in, I think. Have at it, doc. Tell Thor hi."

Bruce opens his mouth to deny that he was going to call Thor, but then closes it, realizing that Darcy has his number. "Hush, you," he scolds playfully.

She giggles and pulls back into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Digging around in the disorganized stack (_Should do something about that later_), Bruce manages to find the brightly colored plastic bag, and he pulls out the phone box.

There's a post-it with a smiley stuck to the outside of it, and Bruce doesn't know who put it there, but it accomplishes its goal and makes him smile anyway (it was Natasha, surprisingly).

The phone only has one number programmed into it: "Home."

Bruce dials and sits cross-legged on the floor, leaning his back against the bed.

"You have reached Stark Tower. To reach the front desk, press zero at any time. For the press department press one. For human resources, press two. For research and development, press three. For—"

"JARVIS?" Bruce interrupts.

"Dr. Banner?" JARVIS (_it _is _the AI_) asks.

"Yes, this is he. Can I talk to one of the others, please?"

"Shall I direct your call to Master Thor, Dr. Banner?" Bruce swears there's a teasing note in the AI's voice.

"That will be fine, thank you."

"Connecting."

After a moment, Thor answers, "Hello? Bruce?"

"Hey, Thor."

"Bruce! How are you?" Fainter, Bruce can hear the demigod call, "Loki? Brother, Bruce is on the phone, come say hi!"

"I'm doing well, thank you for asking, Thor. How are you?"

"Better now that I've talked to you." Ordinarily, Bruce would think that was a cheesy line, but coming from Thor, he thinks it's sweet.

"Thank you. Um, what are you up to?" Bruce wants to talk to Thor, but now that he _is_, he's not really sure what to say. And not talking about his problems is so much easier than talking about them.

Thankfully, Thor doesn't seem to mind carrying the bulk of the conversation. "I just finished helping Steve and Natasha with lunch. Loki and I did the dishes; I have been neglectful of my responsibilities."

"And how's Loki doing? Has he beaten anyone else at Monopoly?" Bruce relaxes into the conversation, able to insert a note of teasing into his voice.

"He's doing alright. He misses you and Darcy. Actually, he played Monopoly with Natasha, Steve, and Clint last night, and he beat all three of them. Clint's challenged him to a rematch. Loki says hi, by the way."

"Hello, Loki. That's good news! I'm sure Clint deserved to be taken down a peg or two. Speaking of Clint, is he doing okay? He seemed a little upset yesterday..."

Thor sounds concerned, "Clint is better now. I suggested that he reach out instead of dealing with his problems alone, and it seems to be helping him. I think he talked to Natasha for a couple of hours yesterday."

"I'm glad. You give good advice, Thor."

"Thank you, Bruce. Did you and Darcy find a good place to stay?"

"Yeah, we did. Real nice lady runs it; she cooks dinner and breakfast and everything. We're going to go out for a walk later, I think."

"That sounds good. I miss being able to enjoy the outdoors, living here in the Tower. Not that I dislike it here, or anything," Thor's quick to add.

"I know you're not criticizing it, Thor. Have you been to Central Park since you got back? That's where we went to send you and the, um, imposter back. To Asgard, I mean."

"No, I have not. That sounds like a good idea, Bruce. Maybe Loki would like—hold on a second, please."

A minute later Thor comes back on the line, "Sorry, Bruce, that was Tony. He needs to talk to you. But it was good hearing from you, and call me again later, okay?"

"You too, Thor."

"JARVIS?" Thor prompts, and generic hold music starts playing.

_Damn it, Banner, you were supposed to talk to him about your problems. Man the fuck up_. _This is never going to go _anywhere_ if you don't get your shit together._

Before Bruce can berate himself too badly, Tony picks up the phone, "Hey, science bro! How're you?"

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"'M good. Look, do you know of anything that would prove that you were working for the government when you created Hulk? Seems like they burned all the records, and I can't find anything electronic. Not for a lack of trying, though," Tony sounds tired.

That's just like Ross, cowardly. Covering his trail and letting Bruce take the fall. He has to take a couple deep breaths before he can answer, working to suppress his instinctual Hulk response. For the second time in as many days, and it feels easier this go-round.

"You okay, doc?" Tony asks when Bruce hasn't said anything after a minute.

Bruce finishes grounding himself, and answers, "I'm okay. Uh, I don't know of anything..." Then he remembers a note on yellow lined paper, and a box, and a post-it wrapped around a key.

He adds slowly, "Actually, there may be something. Remember that puzzle box?"

"Yeah, so?"

"I think Betty left something for me in storage, and that might very well be what you're after."

"Great, how do we get at it?"

Bruce stands, moving over to where he'd left his jacket, fumbling through the pockets before pulling out a tissue-wrapped key. "I have the key, and I know the address. It's in Manhattan."

"The key's with you?"

"Yeah, I've got it right here."

"Okay, just let me tell the others and I'll come up and get it. Unless... You want me to send your boyfriend?"

"He told you?"

"Yeah, he did. Was he not supposed to or something?"

"Oh, no, I said I didn't mind if he wanted to. _Can _he come?"

"Lemme see, gimme a sec. Hey, JARVIS, talk to Bruce for a minute, will ya?"

"Certainly, sir. How are you, Dr. Banner?"

"I'm fine, thank you, JARVIS. How are you?" _Can AIs have feelings?_

"I've been better, honestly. Sir is stressed, and he's attempting some experiments I would rather he not. It's straining my abilities to keep him under control. Ms. Potts usually helped when he got like this."

"But she's not an option anymore. Have you tried talking to Natasha? She seemed like she was doing a good job keeping him in line before all of this," even though JARVIS can't see him, he makes a circular hand motion, "happened."

"No, I had not considered that. Thank you for the suggestion, Dr. Banner. I will certainly ask her."

"You're welcome, JARVIS. I would hate for anything to happen to Tony."

"Me, too. I believe congratulations are in order, Dr. Banner."

Bruce blushes. Having an AI congratulate him on his new boyfriend is most definitely a new experience. "Thank you, JARVIS."

"You are most welcome. Oh, Mr. Stark is back."

"Hey, doc. Thor says it's all good, and he'll come right up. He said to tell you that Loki's going to go play Monopoly with Clint and Steve. Said you'd worry."

"He's right. Thanks, Tony. And thank you for doing all of this for us. You're a very generous host."

"Hey, it's not a problem. You're worth it, Bruce, and so's the rest of this crazy bunch. I think. Stay safe, you hear?"

"Sure thing, Tony. You too."

"Thor's going to call when he's close; he's coming through air, obviously. Now, I hate to say this, but you can't keep him for too long, the lawyers are raring to get at what you might have."

"Of course, Tony. I want to come back."

"Well, ta ta for now, doc."

"'Bye, Tony."

Bruce hangs up the phone and goes to knock on the bathroom door.

"Come in," Darcy calls.

He explains the situation to her, and she suggests, "I'm almost ready; why don't we go on out for that walk? That way it's not totally clear where we're staying. And Mrs. Anderson can't ask any questions."

"That sounds good," Bruce agrees.

"Okay, just give me a few more minutes."

Bruce nods and goes out to go sort the bags, to give him something to do while he waits.

* * *

**I survived exams; are any of you alive out there?**


	17. Walk in the Park

**My beta, dysprositos, continues to make everything so much better. She's unendingly awesome.**

**Also, happy holidays to everyone!**

* * *

A few minutes later, Darcy comes out of the bathroom and walks over to where Bruce is still sorting through the bags.

She moves to carelessly drop her bathroom supplies on top of the pile, but Bruce glares up at her and she flashes him a toothy grin before putting her things on the bed instead, rolling her eyes at his pickiness. _Honestly, stupid organized people..._

"C'mon, doc, get up and let's go. We don't want to be late for your boyfriend," she instructs as she puts one hand on his shoulder and leans down to pluck a jacket off the pile of her clothing that Bruce has just painstakingly separated, toppling the stack in the process.

Darcy pulls back to give him some space to stand up, tying the hoodie around her waist.

When he does—after fixing the pile—and moves towards the door, she stops him, pulling another sweatshirt from the pile of men's clothes and handing it to him.

He holds it up in front of him, looking bemusedly at her over the top. It's huge.

"Yeah, it was supposed to be for Thor. I got everyone a jacket; I forgot to tell you two to get your own."

Bruce puts the sweatshirt aside and bends down to look for the one in his size, but Darcy picks the too-large one up again and thrusts it at him.

"Trust me, he'll love it. Guys always like seeing you in their clothes," she advises, but _something_ steals over her face, darkness clouding her features, before she shakes it away firmly.

"Uh, Darcy, I _am_ a guy. Remember?" Bruce tries to lighten the mood, knowing that remembering things clearly _that_ painful isn't fun.

She pastes on a grin, although it looks a little forced. "I know, Bruce, you don't look like a chick, don't worry. But that was just some friendly advice, you don't have to follow it, whatever." She turns away.

Hastily, Bruce puts the sweatshirt on, "No, Darcy, look, I'm wearing it! See?" He hurries around to stand in front of her, flapping his hands, completely covered in the sleeves, at her.

She relaxes a little, and takes his right hand, efficiently rolling up the sleeve, before doing the same thing to the other side.

"There, see, it's kinda cute." Bruce tries (and miserably fails) to strike a pose like he thinks he might have seen a model doing in a catalog once.

It works, though, because Darcy giggles and her smile comes back, bright and natural.

"You got the phone, doc? And your key?"

He rucks up the sweatshirt's hem, digging around until he's able to pull the flip phone out of his pocket. The key's on a string around his neck, and he digs it out with his other hand to show her.

She nods at the key and then says, "Oh, a _flip_ phone. How very 2000 of them. Wanna carry it?"

Personally, Bruce doesn't know what's wrong with a flip phone, but to each her own, he supposes. "Sure, I'll carry it. Do you need to bring anything?" As he talks, he puts the phone back in his pocket and tucks the key back under the sweatshirt.

Darcy fishes around on the floor for an empty Walmart bag, and wads it up, stuffing it in her pocket. "We can make a couple sandwiches in the kitchen, give us an excuse for staying out awhile."

"That's a good plan, do you think she has drinks, too?"

"Well, I'll get the credit card, and if she doesn't, we can find a convenience store or something around here and get some." She turns and looks through the pockets of her discarded pants from yesterday. "Gonna need to do laundry or do some more shopping, you know."

"Maybe we can ask Mrs. Anderson about that when we get back?" Bruce is starting to get a little antsy, a little fidgety, he wants to leave, to go see Thor.

Apparently, it's obvious, because Darcy turns around, holding up the credit card, victorious, and grins. "Just hold your horses another minute, doc, lemme make sure we haven't forgotten anything."

Darcy is taking care of everything, quite efficiently, actually, and it's kind of a nice feeling, not really caring about much other than himself and his own (numerous) problems. Or _needing_ to care about much.

She spins in a slow circle and then turns back, satisfied. "Okay, let's go make sammiches and then we can go see your man."

Bruce has to roll his eyes at that, but he dutifully follows Darcy down to the kitchen, where she opens the fridge and points him to a cabinet. "Bread should be in there. I'm feeling like PB&J, how about you?"

Opening the cabinet, Bruce retrieves the bread, "You sure we're allowed to do this? And yeah, peanut butter and jelly sounds good. Is it grape?"

"Uh huh, I talked to Mrs. Anderson about it yesterday while you were escaping. Um, grape or strawberry?"

"I want grape, please. Is the peanut butter in there? I found the napkins and some sandwich bags." He turns to put the napkins, baggies, and bread on the kitchen island, figuring that is where the sandwich-making is going to happen.

"Nah, I think it's in that cabinet to your left. Get it, will ya?"

After Bruce comes back with the peanut butter ("Crunchy or creamy?" "Oh, crunchy, totally."), Darcy shoos him out of her way and makes their sandwiches.

"What the hell're you staring at? Go find some chips or something."

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," Bruce answers (_Another military joke; you're on a roll, Banner_), and goes to do as ordered.

A cursory search of the kitchen reveals an open bag of pretzels, so Bruce turns back to Darcy, "These good?"

She glances up, "Sure," and tosses the box of sandwich bags at him. He fumbles and almost drops the pretzels, but manages to juggle both, turning back to the counter to fill up a bag.

"All done, how about you, doc?"

"Same here," he holds up the full baggie to show her, and carries it over to where she is smoothing out the Walmart bag and putting their sandwiches in. He adds the pretzels on top of their sandwiches.

"There aren't any loose drinks in the fridge, looks like she keeps liters, not cans. So we'll be making that stop after all."

"That's fine with me. Want me to carry that?" he indicates their lunch.

"Nah, I've got it."

Bruce pats his hip to make sure the phone is still in his pocket, and then he follows Darcy out into the sunshine, squinting until his eyes adjust.

Darcy waves to Mrs. Anderson, who is weeding the garden. "We'll be back in a little while, ma'am. We made lunch, thank you."

"Okay. You two enjoy the sunshine, loves!" the proprietress calls and waves.

Swinging the bag that contains her lunch, Darcy asks, "Which way, doc?"

Bruce points, "She said the park was that way. We'll probably see somewhere to get drinks on the way."

"Okay, let's go." Darcy tips her face up to the sun for a moment, and then starts off, reaching back to pull at Bruce's arm when he doesn't walk fast enough for her taste.

They walk in silence for a couple blocks. The pretty weather lightens Bruce's mood; he's always enjoyed the sunshine.

He thinks happy thoughts, and the buoyancy that it brings him is good. It also doesn't trigger the Hulk-out defense mechanism, which is good progress, in his opinion.

Lost in his thoughts, he doesn't notice Darcy stopping until she tugs on his arm.

"Earth to Bruce, come on. There's a gas station, let's go get drinks."

"Huh? Oh, okay."

They cross the street and go inside, heading towards the coolers at the back, looking at the contents.

Many of the drinks are garish colors, something Bruce wouldn't even think would be edible. But, as he suspects, Darcy grabs one of them. At least it's an orange...something. That's slightly natural.

Bruce manages to find a pink lemonade, which is something he's always liked but hasn't gotten the chance to drink recently.

"Hey, Bruce, think we should get something for Thor? Flyin's thirsty work, I would expect," Darcy asks quietly.

"That would probably be a good idea," Bruce replies, mentally kicking himself for not thinking of the idea himself. _What kind of a boyfriend are you anyway, Banner?_

"Okay, what do you think he would like?" Darcy indicates the coolers in front of them with a wide sweep of her arm.

"Oh, I'm not really sure, actually. I've never seen him drink anything but water, actually."

Inexplicably, that sends Darcy into a fit of giggles. It takes her a moment to compose herself, "I'm good. Just... Remind me to tell you in a minute, m'kay? What're you drinking?"

Bruce holds his bottle up to her, label out.

"Lemonade, okay, why don't we get that for Thor? Give you two something in common and all that."

"Yeah, Darce, a shared love of lemonade is a sign of a match made in heaven."

"Laugh it up, big guy. But you'll be thanking me later. And 'Darce?'"

Honestly, Bruce hadn't realized that he was calling her anything besides 'Darcy.' "Yeah, I guess so. Is that not okay?"

"Oh, no, it's fine. My mom used to call me that, actually."

"Are you two still close?" Bruce doesn't really know what to say to that.

"No, she's dead. Cancer," Darcy explains shortly. "It's okay, it was a long time ago."

"I'm sorry. Here," Bruce opens the door to retrieve another lemonade, "let's go check out. We should probably be hearing from him soon."

"Okay, Bruce," Darcy smiles a little, wistfully, Bruce thinks.

He takes her drink from her, and carries all three up to the register as she trails behind.

The teenager working there rings him up, and when he asks for payment, Bruce prompts, "Darla?"

She startles, but fishes the credit card out of her pocket. Bruce scrawls 'William' semi-legibly on the signature line, but makes the last name a squiggle, not knowing what his alias's last name _is_. He makes a mental note to find that out later.

The clerk hands back their drinks in a plastic bag, and Bruce takes their lunch from Darcy to tuck it inside. Then he takes her hand to lead her from the store, sensing that she could probably use some comfort right then.

Once they're outside and walking back towards the park, he prompts gently, "What made you laugh like that in there?" He thinks that anything that hilarious is probably a safe topic of conversation right then, after she's been sad.

"Huh? Oh, that. Yeah. You know how Thor came to Earth last year, when I was in New Mexico?"

"Yeah, a little. He met you and your boss, right?"

Darcy pulls a face at that but answers, "Yeah. Anyway, I tased him after I hit him with the truck. We took him to the hospital, but he broke out of where they were keeping him and Jane hit him with the truck, _again_. So we figured we could take him out for brunch, at least, kind of apologize for injuring him so much."

She pauses for breath, and Bruce takes the opportunity to interject incredulously, "You _tased_ Thor?"

Darcy cracks a grin at that. "Yeah, I did." She adopts a mock fighting stance. "But in his defense, he was human at the time."

"_Oh_, that makes it so much better, Darce." She hasn't said not to call her that, after all. And he's right, she smiles nostalgically at the sound of the nickname.

"_An-y-way_, Mr. Interruptions, we took Thor to this cafe in town. He drank his coffee, and when he was finished, and I am _not_ exaggerating, he declared, 'THIS DRINK, I LIKE IT!' and as he smashed his mug on the ground, he called for 'ANOTHER!'"

Bruce gapes. "Seriously?"

"I shit you not. You can even ask him yourself, if you want. Promise he'll agree with me. Funniest shit I've ever seen. But SHIELD took the picture off my facebook."

Bruce laughs for a moment, and then he shakes his head, mocking, "That's _such_ a tragedy."

"It was!" Darcy protests indignantly.

Bruce raises his free hand in a gesture of surrender, "Okay, fine, it was."

Darcy rolls her eyes at him dramatically, but prances ahead, striding toward the park entrance visible in front of them.

She waits just inside the gate for him to catch up, "We should probably go find a nice high place, make it easier for Thor to find us."

Bruce can't resist teasing, "Like on top of the playground equipment?"

"Jerk," Darcy playfully swats at him.

The movement takes him by surprise. No one has _dared_ make an aggressive motion at him in years, other than Tony. But that was calculated, Bruce is certain, possibilities spinning around the wheels of Tony's brain. Darcy does it like she's not thinking about it, like she doesn't recognize the risk.

But there is _no_ risk. Bruce cannot feel anything stirring in the sea of his mind. No rumbling, nothing other than a slight shift, like the ones he's been associating with happy feelings.

_Damn._ It floors him, and he stops, standing stock still in the middle of the path.

Darcy continues on for a minute before doubling back and gently taking his arm, "Come on, doc, can't have our revelations out here in public places."

Bruce stumbles along behind her, letting her lead him to a grassy area and push him down to sit on a patch of sun-warmed ground.

"Okay, Bruce, spill. What's up?"

"It's just... You swatted at me. That's an aggressive action, but _nothing happened_. Not a single thing."

"Well, that's good, right?"

"...Yeah."

"Congrats, then, Bruce! I'm not going to apologize, if that's what you're wondering. I know I'm a different sort of person than who you've been around lately, and that's a good thing. You can't stay in your little bubble forever, as comfy as it is. Believe me, I've been there, done that, got the fucking t-shirt."

"Thanks, and yeah, you're right." Quieter, he adds, "You shouldn't have to apologize for being yourself around me..."

"Uh uh, none of that, Bruce Banner. You're not allowed to pull back in your shell just because of something like that. We've been having a good time, and I refuse to let you spoil that for me. You know, you're the first person in years who I've told about my mom? Nobody else seems like they'd care, but you're good people, Bruce, and you do care."

"Okay, Darcy. Thank you."

"You're most certainly welcome. Now, here, eat your lunch." She thrusts a sandwich at him, opening the bag of pretzels and plopping it on the bag between them before unscrewing the cap on her soda and taking a long drink.

"How can you drink that?" Bruce has to ask. "It's just so...unnatural-looking!"

"It's good, here," Darcy pushes the bottle at him.

Cautiously, Bruce takes a small sip. And immediately makes a face.

"Don't like it, huh? That's okay, more for me, then," she comments, snagging the bottle back from him and putting it on the ground next to her, taking a couple of pretzels from the bag next to her.

They eat in silence for a few more minutes, but then the sharp sound of a ringtone cuts the air.

Bruce rises up on his knees to pull it out of his pocket, flipping it open and answering, "Hello?"

"Bruce?" Thor's voice is slightly strained, deeper than normal. _From exertion_, Bruce realizes.

"Hey, Thor, are you here?"

"Yes, I am. Where are you?"

"You should talk to Darcy, she knows better than I do." Bruce passes the phone to Darcy, who gives directions, nodding.

She hangs up the phone and passes it back. "He says he sees the park, and he'll be here in a few minutes."

Bruce replaces it in his pocket and looks at her, thrusting the last few bites of his sandwich in his mouth all at once, suddenly irrepressibly eager to see the demigod.

Darcy laughs at him and grabs a napkin, reaching out to wipe jelly off his nose. "Okay, you look beautiful."

Bruce smiles at her and stands up, shrugging his shoulders to make the sweatshirt hang properly on him.

He paces back and forth slowly; Darcy gathers up the trash, packing it all back into one bag.

"Hey, doc, catch!" Darcy calls, and Bruce turns around in time to fumble for the bottle of lemonade being thrown at him.

Of course, he drops it, and when he stoops to retrieve it, it has a large dent in the side. He makes a face, dismayed that he will be giving Thor something that isn't perfect.

He continues to walk, the bottle held loosely in a hand. After a minute or two, Darcy joins him, following him like a duckling would its mother.

The mental image of that makes him laugh, and he's in the middle of explaining the joke to Darcy when Thor touches down, dropping Mjölnir to the side.

Bruce wants to hurry over to him, wants to run and hide, doesn't know _what _he wants. Darcy solves his dilemma by giving him a good shove, and he stumbles forward, tripping over something.

He expects to hit the ground, is already bracing himself for impact, and he is pleasantly surprised when Thor catches him instead, sweeping him up into a hug.

Bruce squirms until he can put his arms around Thor and squeeze back. Thor tucks his face into the juncture between Bruce's neck and shoulder, and Bruce awkwardly reaches up to run a hand over his hair, in what he hopes is a comforting manner.

Darcy gives them a minute, and then she interrupts, "Where's _my_ hug, big guy?"

Thor carefully puts Bruce on his feet, waiting until he's sure the scientist is steady, before striding over to Darcy, picking her up and spinning her in a circle.

It's a bit more exuberance than Bruce thinks he would enjoy, and he's glad that Thor recognizes that. Darcy whispers something to Thor and then turns to walk away, calling back, "I'm gonna go swing or something; I'll be near the playground shit."

"Have fun, Darce," Bruce yells after her, and then he tips his head back to look up at Thor.

The demigod smiles at him, "Hello, Bruce. What is that you're wearing?"

"Hi. Uh, this was supposed to be yours, but Darcy said I should wear it..."

"It's nice."

There's a moment of silence then, but Bruce and Thor break it at the same time, "Here, this is for—" and "I'm glad to see—"

They chuckle, and then Thor indicates that Bruce should go ahead. He offers the demigod the lemonade, "We brought this for you." And then he feels compelled to add, "It was Darcy's idea."

"I shall have to thank her." Thor lifts the bottle to eye level, reading the label. "I don't think I've had this drink before."

"I like it," Bruce offers, and Thor smiles at him, uncapping the bottle and draining half of it in one go.

"It's good, I like it too. We have a similar drink on Asgard, but it's more sour than this."

"That has more sugar than it probably should; I admit. Uh, how are you?"

Thor laughs, "I am well, thank you, Bruce. I'm glad to see you."

"I'm glad to see you too." And because Bruce mostly believes Darcy, but he kind of wants to see Thor's reaction, he asks, "Did you really smash a coffee mug in New Mexico?" He figures the whole 'taser' thing might be a bit much, because Bruce doesn't really want to laugh at his new boyfriend.

Throwing his head back, Thor laughs for a moment, before he answers, "Yes, I did. And I walked into a pet store and demanded a horse. My arrogance knew no bounds. Did Darcy tell you that?"

"She did. Laughed her head off about it, actually." He takes a moment to think about it, before he states, "What you did then doesn't define who you are now. You're a good man, Thor."

"That's a wise statement, Bruce." And because the universe hates Bruce, Thor continues, "It sounds like you have made some progress on working through your issues. What you said doesn't only apply to me, does it?"

"No, it doesn't. And yeah, I have." _Man the fuck up, Banner, and say it already_. "I wanted to talk to you about that, actually."

"Should we sit down?" Thor offers, attentively watching Bruce.

"Sure," Bruce drops down cross-legged on the ground. "Well, uh, I figured out that my brain had hard-wired itself to make me feel like I was going to 'Hulk-out' whenever I started feeling emotional. That's why I started freaking out at the Tower and upset Steve that time. And why I haven't really been able to get close to anybody. Fair warning; I'm pretty bad at this."

"I've never had a serious relationship before, either, so you are not alone in that. But, do you think you can reverse this?"

"I'm working on it. It's been fairly successful so far, I think. And I'm trying to deal with my, uh, self-esteem problems."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don't really know why you'd want to be in a relationship with me." There, it's out, Bruce has said it.

Thor tips his head to the side, his face cloudy and troubled, and takes a moment to consider. Then, he says, "You have noticed that I am not as dumb as I sometimes pretend to be."

Bruce nods.

"I will admit to a certain...partiality towards scientists, but Tony reminded me too much of Loki for me to even consider. I was not determined to find a partner among my teammates, wasn't even really considering it, but when I met you, I was amazed. You're a smart man, Bruce, and you're not all that hard to look at either," Thor teases.

Bruce appreciates the way Thor answers him, matter-of-factly and without making Bruce feel like he's being fed platitudes. He tells Thor so, and the demigod smiles, "Good. I do not want to be enabling you."

"I don't need to be enabled, so that's good. Um, Tony said I shouldn't keep you here for too long, so here," he pulls the key out from under his shirt and over his head and hands it to Thor, then he tells the demigod the address.

Thor repeats it, and Bruce nods, "That's it, you've got it."

"I'd better get back then. Do you mind if I take someone with me to retrieve this?"

That's honestly something Bruce hasn't considered, so he thinks for a minute and then says, "Can you see if Natasha's available?" She seems like she knows how to keep a secret, and she also seems the most...well, frankly, stable out of the group.

"I can. Goodbye, Bruce." Thor hugs him, leaning over on his knees to do so.

Then he's up, on his feet, picking up Mjölnir and lifting off.

"'Bye, Thor."

* * *

**This is probably my favorite chapter yet, and I'd love to hear what you think about it.**


	18. Where The Lines Overlap

**Chapter title from Paramore's song of the same name. I'm not feeling very original today, apparently.**

**M'kay, so, dysprositos is awesome. She puts up with me and went through more drafts of this than usual due to the fact that I can't write action. You're the best, beta buddy!**

**WARNING: fight scene.**

* * *

Thor has to pull himself away from Bruce. He seizes Mjölnir and takes off too fast, perhaps even carelessly, but he needs to do it fast, needs to get away.

He had wanted to kiss Bruce so badly, but after Bruce shared his insecurity with Thor, he knew that kissing the scientist wouldn't help matters any. He knows from his experiences with Loki when they were younger that placating Bruce would only worsen the problem down the road.

So he had just tried to state his opinion clearly, to be supportive of Bruce without doing too much. The scientist seems like he is dealing with problems well, and Thor thinks it's probably for the best that Bruce has been doing this when Thor is not around. He would be tempted to be _too _helpful, otherwise.

And that wouldn't be good for anybody.

Bruce's fears about the physical aspects of their relationship also make Thor wary of pushing him too hard. He doesn't want the scientist to run from him and their developing relationship.

But he is worried about what Bruce has told him, that the scientist's insecurities are so great. He hopes that Darcy will be able to assist Bruce in regaining his self-confidence. She is truly a marvel, and Thor knows he is lucky to have her around, as is Bruce.

Thinking about Bruce and his insecurities occupies most of Thor's time until he lands on Tony's landing pad, where the engineer usually goes to have his suit removed.

Thor walks inside, takes Mjölnir to his room, and then asks, "JARVIS, where is Loki?"

"Master Loki, Captain Rogers, and Agent Barton are playing Monopoly in the 67th floor living room. Shall I alert them to your arrival?"

"No, thank you."

"Very well."

Thor straightens his wind-mussed clothing and heads for the stairs, going down to check on his brother before he locates Natasha and asks her to accompany him.

When he reaches the doorway, he pauses, looking inside the room at the three men gathered around the coffee table. He can see that both Steve and Clint have their heads inclined towards the sound of his footsteps, but Loki has his back to the door and seems oblivious to Thor's approach.

His brother appears wrapped up in his game, and the stack of money at his side is quite large.

Seeing that Loki is doing well without Thor at his side reassures Thor, and he takes a few steps into the room. "Hello, how are you doing?"

Steve looks at Thor carefully, assessing him, and then answers, "We're doing well. Actually, maybe Clint isn't. Loki has all but bankrupted him."

Clint says indignantly, "Hey, now, you're almost out, too, Rogers. Don't act like you aren't!" He seems lighter, like his talk with Natasha has done him well. He's sitting within Loki's reach (a first) and looks relaxed.

Loki simply turns to look at Thor and _smiles_, a real smile, genuine, reaching all the way to his eyes. Thor hasn't seen him smile like this for far too long, and he can't help but smile back, full of happiness at his brother's progress.

"Good for you, Loki! I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," Thor tells him. "I have another errand to run, but it shouldn't take too long, I don't think. Clint, do you know where Natasha is?"

"Last I heard, she was going to check on Tony in his workshop. He's been overworking himself, she said, and she was going to try and get him to eat something other than coffee and whatever crap is in those smoothies his robots make for him. Why?"

"I would like for her to accompany me, if she is available."

"You going to pick up what General Ross's daughter left for Bruce?" Steve asks.

"Yes, we are. Loki, when I get back, perhaps I can show you another type of game that I learned from Darcy. I'll be back soon, and good luck, brother! I love you."

Clint's indignant shout of "_H__e_ doesn't need luck!" follows Thor from the room. _It's really great that __Clint is improving_, Thor thinks.

Once he's out in the hallway, heading to the elevator, he double checks, "JARVIS, is Natasha still with Tony?"

"Yes, Master Thor, Agent Romanoff and Mr. Stark are in his lab on the 77th floor."

"Thank you."

He takes the elevator up, and carefully thinks about what he wants to say, not wanting Tony to be upset that he is not invited on Thor's errand.

The doors open, and Thor walks down the hall to the large glass door of Tony's workshop. Inside, it looks like Natasha is lecturing the engineer, but the glass is sound-proof. Her gestures speak of irritation, though.

Thor doesn't know if he should interrupt, but Natasha spots him, and with one last emphatic gesture, turns to beckon Thor in.

He obeys, walking through the door as it whooshes open, and Tony slumps into a chair, turning to face Thor.

"Hey, big guy, how are you? How's the boyfriend?" Although it sounds like Tony is attempting to force cheer and his usual over-exuberance into his voice, he sounds _tired_.

"I'm fine, as is Bruce. Are you well, Tony?"

Before Tony can answer, Natasha interrupts, "_No_, he is not. He hasn't slept in twenty-seven hours and he hasn't eaten in nine."

"Naaaaat," Tony moans, unaware that his whining isn't really helping his cause, "I don't need a fucking babysitter. Just leave me alone, I'm a grown-ass man."

"No, Tony, I agree with Natasha. Whatever you are working on can wait." Thor doesn't usually want to get involved in situations like this, but the dark circles around Tony's eyes are clearly visible from halfway across the room, and the engineer clearly needs rest.

"I'm working on getting your boyfriend back in the States, Point Break, don't you care about that?" Tony is trying to deflect the attention from himself by lashing out, but Thor has seen Loki do this often enough that he is not fazed.

"I do care, but Bruce would not want his friend to work himself to the point of exhaustion. For that matter, neither do I."

"See? Listen to Thor if you won't listen to me, Tony. This isn't healthy. You've even got JARVIS worried," Natasha interjects.

"He's a motherfucking AI, he can't worry—" Natasha's glower cuts him off, and he amends, "Okay, fine. I'll go to bed in a little while."

"No, not a little while, now," Natasha instructs. "Thor, will you carry Tony there if he won't walk?"

"Certainly, Natasha."

"Fuck you both, I'm going. _No _needles," he points at Natasha, "and no _carrying_," he indicates Thor. "And fuck you, too, JARVIS, you traitorous bastard. As soon as everything's better, I'm going to downgrade you into a toaster and give you to an old folks' home."

"As you wish, sir."

"March, Stark," Natasha points at the door.

Sulkily, muttering darkly, Tony does as he's told, and as she's following him out the door, Natasha calls back over her shoulder, "Come on, Thor, you wanted to talk to me, right?"

"Yes," Thor follows them to the elevator, and he waits inside while Natasha marches Tony into his bedroom and then returns a few moments later, shutting the door carefully behind her.

"Come on out of there, you can talk while I make him something to eat for when he wakes up."

She walks towards where Thor assumes the penthouse kitchen is, so he goes after her. Inside, he props a hip on the counter while she goes to the fridge, looking around inside.

"Natasha, are you busy?"

She snorts, "At the moment, yes, can't you tell?"

"I mean after that."

"I don't have anything definite planned, why? Aren't you supposed to be getting whatever might help the lawyers prove Bruce is not a terrorist?"

"Yes, I am. I have the key and the address, but I wanted you to come with me. I'm not totally sure where I'm going."

"Is that okay with Bruce? Seems like this is kind of personal for him, and he's already going to have the lawyers poking around in his shit."

"He suggested you, actually."

"Oh." Natasha goes quiet for a moment, focusing on the bread she is smoothing mustard across. "Sure, I'll go."

"Thank you. I can be ready to leave whenever you are finished."

"Sounds good. JARVIS, when Tony wakes up, make him come eat these; I'm going to put them back in the fridge."

"Yes, Agent Romanoff, and thank you for your assistance."

"No problem." Closing the fridge door, she wipes her hands on a paper towel and then turns to face Thor.

"Come on to my room, I need to grab a couple things before we can go."

"Of course." Thor wordlessly follows her down the stairs ("It's healthier to walk.") and into her room, where she retrieves a box from her closet, putting it on her bed.

Then she sizes him up carefully. "Ever used a gun?"

"No, I haven't."

"We'll have to get you on the range. Bruce and Darcy, too. And, once he's better, Loki. Anyway, you any good with knives?"

Thor's not completely clear where this is going, but he has an idea. "I'm proficient, yes. Loki's much better, though."

"Hmm. Okay, here, catch," she flips a sturdy knife at him, hilt over blade. Thor watches its trajectory for a moment and then reaches out, hilt smacking into his palm smoothly.

"You're good," she comments. "Stash that somewhere it's not obvious and let's get going. JARVIS, tell Clint where I am, please."

"Yes, Agent Romanoff." JARVIS pauses for a moment, and then adds, "He replies, quote, 'have fun, Nat.'"

"Okay, then, let's go."

Thor carefully tucks the knife into one of the sturdy boots he is wearing (that Tony had provided) and then straightens, waving a hand to indicate that she should lead the way.

They descend the many levels of stairs to the Tower's lobby, and Natasha shows him out through a small, unobtrusive door that would be hard to see from the street.

Outside, they walk for a block before Natasha asks, "What's the address?"

Thor tells her, and she tips her head to the side for a moment, considering. She decides, "A cab'll be the best way to go, but we won't take it all the way."

Thor nods his acceptance, and she steps to the curb, letting out a sharp whistle and raising a hand in the air.

A cab pulls up, and Natasha gives the driver an address on the same street as Bruce's, but the number is not the same.

They ride in companionable silence, Natasha drumming her fingers on her knee. Thor is reminded how well she and Sif would get along.

Although that is a scary thought. Other than his mother, Thor has not known any two scarier women.

The driver pulls over, and Natasha tosses a few bills over the seat, saying "keep the change."

She and Thor slide out and wait until the driver has pulled away before they proceed slowly down the sidewalk. Natasha slides her arm through his, a familiar position, and smiles, "So you and Bruce, huh?"

"Clint told you?"

"Yeah, he did. Are you happy?"

"I am."

"Good. You've got something worth hanging onto."

"I think so."

Her smile this time contains considerably more teeth, "Keep an eye out for anyone suspicious. I wouldn't put it past Fury to have people watching the Tower. But his best agents are no longer _his_ agents. That makes for pretty good odds."

They stroll along, making idle conversation and pointing out items of interest in shop windows until Natasha's grip on Thor's arm tightens. "Two men and a woman on the other side of the street. They're stopping every time we do."

When Thor attempts to look, she yanks his arm sharply, "Don't _do_ that, they'll know we know."

Thor keeps his eyes dutifully ahead, trusting Natasha to plan a way to lose their tails. He's never been the best strategist, preferring to leave that to Loki and Sif, and besides, he is unfamiliar with the territory.

A few minutes later, Natasha quickens her pace and Thor speeds up to match. They turn down a darkened alleyway, and Natasha indicates that he should take cover behind the garbage cans on one side of the alley. She goes further down the alley, melting into the shadows with the ease of much practice.

Thor crouches and waits. Shortly, after, the three agents enter the alley, looking around for any signs of their quarry.

Down the alley, Natasha makes a sound, and the three snap to full alertness, carefully going down to investigate the source of the noise.

Once they have passed Thor's hiding place, he stands to his full height and silently moves to block their exit from the alley, pulling the knife from his boot.

Natasha steps out of her hiding place, guns drawn and her most formidable look on her face. Her stance is not a good one, not well-balanced for fighting, nor does Thor think she would fire her guns when they are trying to not attract attention, so he guesses (correctly) that she's going for intimidation, trying to drive their assailants back towards him. Which they promptly do, whirling to leave, but Thor smiles crookedly at them, his knife held loosely in his hand, making it clear that he is going to block their exit.

They bunch together to attack him. He shifts his stance to readiness, and adjusts the knife so that the hilt is facing outward.

He neatly knocks his first assailant unconscious with a blow from the knife hilt, and simply throws his arm out to stop the woman from running past him to attack from the back.

She shifts to put her back to the wall, but all of a sudden her eyes roll up in her head as Natasha slides an arm around the agent's exposed throat, the other man on the ground at her feet, his eyes streaming.

Natasha drops the woman on top of the conscious man, and quickly stows her pepper spray back into a hidden pocket, the guns already invisible, as her clothing is loose enough to leave no obvious bulges. Thor stoops to put away his knife, and then she leads him out of the alley and down the street to a payphone. She dials three numbers and, raising her voice to a higher register, informs the authorities about suspicious noises coming from the alley.

Then they hurry down the street to their destination, which turns out to be a place where storage space could be rented.

Thor pulls the key on its string out from under his shirt, and reads off the number to Natasha in a low voice.

Their unit is towards the back of the lot, and Thor pulls the key over his head and unlocks the door, stepping inside carefully.

Inside, the space is mostly empty, but a large cardboard box rests in one corner. Thor goes over and crouches down, removing the top of the box.

On top of a row of file folders is an envelope addressed to Bruce in clear, utilitarian handwriting.

Natasha leans over his shoulder, taking the envelope from Thor's hand and holding it up to the light.

"It's just a note, nothing else. You might want to put that in your pocket, it's probably personal and I doubt Bruce would want the lawyers to read it."

Thor stands to tuck the letter into his pocket, and Natasha kneels in front of the box, lifting out the top few folders.

They are labeled clearly, "Banner, R. Bruce, Doctor," "BioForce Enhancement Project," and "Newspaper Clippings."

Natasha briefly pages through them, and then checks the rest of the box, pulling out a sealed container of blue liquid and a schematic diagram.

She turns to Thor and looks at him seriously, "You take these and _tell nobody_ about them. Not even Bruce, not right now. Hide them somewhere well. Got it?"

He's immensely curious, but he agrees, "Yes." Thor takes the items from her and tucks them inside his shirt, carefully.

She closes up the box and hoists it up in her arms, going out of the storage room. Thor checks again to ensure that they have not missed anything before following her out and locking the door behind them, putting the key back around his neck.

Natasha hands him the box, "Here, I'll take point. Keep an eye out, though."

They return to the street and she hails another cab, having it drop them off across the street from the Tower.

Natasha takes him back through the side door and up the stairs to the 30th floor, where she knocks on the door of the conference room, which is ajar.

"Come in," a man calls and Natasha pushes the door open for Thor.

He sets the box down on the first empty space of table he sees so that he can cross his arms over his chest and glare at the lawyers.

"These materials were preserved from destruction by Dr. Elizabeth Ross. Will you be requiring anything else?" Natasha asks coldly.

Sanders, the head lawyer, looks up at her, "A sworn affidavit that these are her personal materials and have not been obtained illegally, Ms. Rushman."

"I can do that. Anything else?"

"No." The lawyer does not have the courtesy to thank her, and Thor grinds his teeth together as he follows her out of the door and up the stairs.

He continues up to his room when she exits on the 67th floor, and he carefully hides the diagram and container of blue liquid before joining the others in the living room.

There, Thor and Natasha watch Loki finish beating Steve, as Clint has already been bankrupted and left to go "shoot some shit." The five of them eat a snack together when Clint comes back, and then Thor takes Loki back into the living room and, with JARVIS's help, introduces him to video games. They play Wii games for most of the rest of the afternoon, and Loki proves to be good at both virtual golf and tennis, although Thor is better at baseball.

Tony wanders down to join them later, and the others gradually trickle back in from whatever they've been doing.

They all have dinner together, and the lawyers send up a positive report, predicting results by tomorrow evening, before Thor and Loki go to bed as Natasha begins to glare at Tony and Steve backs her up with a glare of his own.

* * *

The next morning, Thor wakes up to a loud whimper. He rolls over, disentangling himself from the sheets and sees Loki, who appears distressed, his eyes open and fixed on Thor.

Thor offers comfort, but Loki draws back from his touch, so Thor lets him be, not wanting to upset his brother further.

Loki seems to calm as they both dress and when Thor suggests that they go get breakfast, his brother is the first one out the door.

They go to the kitchen on the 67th floor, where Clint and Tony stand with their backs to the door, cooking something. Natasha leans against the counter to their left, her hand wrapped loosely around a cup of coffee.

Steve comes in just after they do and reaches out to lay a hand on Loki's forearm to greet him.

He snatches it back immediately like he's been burned, his fingers and palm turned a light blue.

Thor's eyes widen and he looks from Steve to Loki, who is staring at the pattern of blue slowly appearing on his arm, spreading out from the point of contact.

Loki looks up and his eyes lock with Thor's. The Jötunn, because that is what Loki truly is, though Thor has never seen him without his Æsir form, takes a step back fearfully. Of Thor. His _brother_ is scared of _him_.

Thor lifts his arms to indicate that he is not going to hurt Loki, "Loki, you're okay. I know you're Jötunn, and it doesn't affect anything."

Loki stills in the hallway, clear of the doorway, and Steve pushes past Thor, rushing to the stairs and disappearing. His face shows that he is in extreme distress, but Thor does not know the cause. He has to trust that the others will take care of Steve, as he has a more pressing problem: Loki.

Clint looks from Loki to Thor and back again before breaking the silence that has descended, "What the fuck is going on? The other one didn't do _that_."

Thor turns to explain, "You know that Loki was adopted from Jötunheimr. What I didn't mention was that their natural forms are different than those of the Æsir. This is his natural form, but I do not know what is going on. He is extremely cold to the touch, and I would advise against touching him, as even I would be affected."

"Is Steve going to be okay?" Clint interrupts.

"Steve will be fine; he did not have a hand on Loki long enough for it to affect him physically for more than an hour or so."

Clint looks like he's having a revelation, "So he's really _not_ the one who tried to take over the world."

"No, he is not," Thor answers shortly.

"Okay, Loki's not 'other guy.' Let's call him 'Larry' for future reference, this same name shit is annoying," Tony declares. "I can rig up something so that we can touch Loki. I just need a few readings." His voice softens, "Loki, I need to have JARVIS do a scan of you. Can you be absolutely still for a minute?"

Loki nods.

JARVIS announces, "Scanning now, sir." About thirty seconds later, he says, "Scan complete, I am uploading the data to your workstation, sir."

"Sounds good, if you'll excuse me," Tony neatly sidesteps Thor and Loki to go to the elevator.

"He's really _not_...Larry," Clint repeats.

Natasha calmly walks over to Clint and suggests, "Why don't you go check on Steve? He seemed upset."

"Okay, I can do that." Clint stares at Loki for another minute before going to the stairs.

"Thor. Do you feel like you're capable of taking care of Loki by yourself or do you need to consult with someone?"

That's a good question. Thor considers for a minute before he replies, "I should go to our father. Loki, will you be okay here or do you want to come?"

Loki takes a step closer to Natasha, who, to her credit, doesn't so much as flinch.

"Stay, then?"

Loki nods, and Thor looks at Natasha, "I will need a moment to retrieve Mjölnir. Where is the Tesseract device?"

"I'll get it. Meet back here in ten minutes?"

"Sounds good. Loki?"

Thor and Loki walk upstairs to their room, where Thor picks up Mjölnir and enunciates the incantation for his armor. Loki smiles at that, and Thor smiles back, determined to show his brother that _nothing _has changed between them.

They return to the kitchen, and Natasha comes in a little later with the Tesseract device in her hand. She hands it to Thor, and offers to Loki, "Why don't we go play some Monopoly? I bet I can kick your ass; I always beat Clint."

Loki nods tentatively.

"Have fun, brother, and don't worry. I'll be back soon. I love you."

Loki shyly motions a hug to Thor, who returns the gesture and then grasps the handles of the device, twisting a little awkwardly as it was designed for two people to use, not one.

He vanishes.

* * *

**Reviews make my day, you know! (Yes, that was a hint.)**


	19. Home

**My fantastic beta, dysprositos, went above and beyond with this one. My inability to _science! _gave me some trouble here, but she explained things to me and was really incredible. And she also allows me to steal nicknames from her. So thank you, beta buddy!**

**Happy New Year, everyone!**

* * *

Thor lands a little unsteadily on the Bifrost, loosening his grip on the Tesseract device and shifting it so he's holding it in one hand.

Heimdall stands a short ways down, near the broken edge, his hands crossed over Hofud, his sword. He looks up to acknowledge Thor's appearance, his head inclined regally. He has an easy dignity that Thor has always tried to display himself (but not as well as he wishes he could).

"Welcome, my prince."

"Greetings, Heimdall. Is all well?" Thor needs to know if he's going to be walking into a potentially hostile situation—his goal is to get in and out as quickly as he can, since Loki needs to know what is going on.

"All is well. Your parents were not expecting you, however. Shall I forewarn them of your arrival?"

"No, thank you."

"As you wish," Heimdall nods and then closes his eyes again, returning to his customary position.

Thor takes the opportunity that the walk to the palace presents to clear his head. He makes a neat mental list of his questions for his parents about Loki. The thought of mentioning Bruce crosses his mind, but he dismisses it as inappropriate at this time. There will be time for his parents to be informed later, when all is well with Loki. Bruce will understand this.

With his thoughts in order, Thor strides into the palace, acknowledging the people who greet him, but not stopping to speak to anyone, not even Hogun, who he spies around a corner.

Odin sits on his throne, although he stands quickly when Thor walks into the room. The Allfather makes an imperious gesture at a servant, and the man leaves, presumably to fetch Thor's mother.

"Greetings, Father." Thor goes down on one knee, his head bowed.

"Welcome, my son. What brings you here?"

Thor stands carefully, wanting to have this conversation with his father on equal grounds. He is still not sure _what_ he thinks about his father's decision to conceal Loki's heritage from him, knowing that decision has brought Loki much distress and harm.

"Loki is reverting to his Jötunn form with no visible reason. He has still not spoken, but he is visibly distressed about what is happening. One of my teammates made physical contact with him before we were aware of his change in temperature, and my friend has slight frostbite, I believe, though the contact was not long enough to cause permanent damage."

Odin looks deep in thought and takes several minutes to think before he answers, "That makes sense. How is Loki's physical state, other than the reversion? Does he seem to be returning to a healthy weight?"

Thor tips his head to the side to consider. "Yes, I believe he was regaining his normal weight. He has been eating large meals regularly."

Odin nods contemplatively and then smiles gently when Frigga sweeps into the room, immediately crossing to hug Thor before taking her place next to Odin.

"What's going on, dear? Why are you here? How is Loki?"

"I'm fine, but Loki's glamour is dropping. That's why I'm here, to find out what's going on and to find out what is necessary to care for a Jötunn. No, for _my brother_," Thor corrects himself.

"I believe that as Loki's physical self has finished healing, his magical energy is working to repair itself. It's likely that his captors placed some sort of spell on him, perhaps even rendering him unable to speak," Odin explains, putting an arm out for Frigga to rest her hand on.

"So now his mind is removing that?" Thor asks.

"Precisely. The spell that conceals his Jötunn form is of my making, and as such, his mind sees it as alien and will be removing it as well."

"I'll be right back," Frigga interrupts and hurries from the room, calling to a servant as she goes.

"That makes sense, Father, and Loki will be relieved to hear that is the cause. I believe he was scared of me, that I would try to hurt him. I have not shown much...clemency towards Frost Giants in the past."

"He is still healing, my son. I will confess that I do regret keeping his heritage from him like I did, but I cannot change it now. What's done is done."

That's oddly...cliché coming from his father, but Thor is in no mood to argue, wanting to return to Earth, to Loki as soon as possible.

Frigga returns, carrying a stack of books by herself, the servant trailing along uselessly beside her. That fits with Thor's opinion of his mother, that she has never been fully content to languish in the palace, and also that when it comes to her boys—because that is what they are, _her boys_—she will do anything for them.

"These contain information on the Jötunn, as well as a couple books of spells, including the one containing the glamour your father used on Loki," she tells Thor.

"These will be most helpful, I thank you, Mother," Thor inclines his head respectfully, conscious of their surroundings, the fact that they are not alone. He knows what is expected of him.

He sets the Tesseract device at his feet and reaches to take the books from her, carefully shifting them into a manageable stack. He knows he is not going to be able to carry them himself and twist the Tesseract device at the same time, and it must show on his face, as Odin orders the servant to fetch a bag.

"I would expect that it will be several days before Loki can replace the glamour on himself," Odin cautions. "The process his magic is undergoing now can be quite draining. I imagine he will wish to sleep more often."

And that reminds Thor. "What should he eat? I know nothing of the diets of the Jötunn."

Frigga answers him, resting a hand on Odin's arm to prevent his response, "He can eat almost anything, but he needs to avoid starches. Carbohydrates should be given to him sparingly. He's probably going to want meat, especially while he is still healing. I believe Midgard calls the food units 'calories,' and he will need plenty of those."

Thor is curious how she knows this, but he knows better than to ask. "Thank you, Mother. I will relay this information to him so he can manage his own diet."

Knowing that Loki's lack of speech probably has a magical cause finally allows Thor to realize that his _brother_, the very same one he has known, is still in the familiar (or not-so-familiar, as is the case now) body. Not a child. But if Loki _is_ in there, why has he not done something to indicate that he remembers their last encounter? If it had been Thor in Loki's shoes, he doubts he would have the capacity to forgive and forget so quickly. Perhaps the trauma has affected his memory? Thor needs to consult his friends, wants to understand Loki better.

Odin interrupts Thor's reverie, "Is that all you needed to ask, son?" With the servant out of the room and all the other attendants pretending to be deaf, Odin's eye softens as he regards his elder child.

"Yes, Father, it is. As soon as the servant returns, I am anxious to leave. Loki will want to know what is going on."

"That is very admirable, son."

Frigga smiles a little wistfully, and Thor makes a note to tell Loki. They'd always been close, closer than he and their mother, to be sure. He shows no sign of this outwardly, merely inclining his head and thanking his father.

"Do tell Loki that I miss him, and that I love him. Perhaps when he is feeling better, I can come to visit you?"

Thor can imagine how well that will go over with his friends, having the queen of another realm come to tea, as it were. But he knows better than to say this, knowing it will cast aspersions on the characters of his friends (_and Bruce_, the nagging little corner of his brain reminds him. _And Bruce_).

"Yes, Mother, I will."

At last, the servant returns with a sack, and Thor transfers the books into it carefully, tucking it under his arm and picking up the Tesseract device.

"I shall return at a later date. Father, Mother."

"Take care, dear!"

Thor nods to acknowledge her, and he backs out of the room as his parents assume their seats on their thrones, their heads together, Odin no doubt telling Frigga everything that has transpired.

Once he is out of the room, he waves a hand to Sif—who smiles back at him but makes no move to approach him—and twists the handles of the device (it is highly improper to teleport in front of royalty, even if one _is _a royal oneself), thinking about _home_, because that is what Earth has become to him in such a short time, _home_.

* * *

Somehow the Tesseract device never takes people indoors because Thor materializes on Tony's landing pad.

He hurries inside to find Loki, wanting to tell his brother what he has learned and give him the books to look through.

Natasha and Loki are sitting cross-legged on either side of the coffee table, facing off over the Monopoly board when Thor strides into the room. They both stand up to greet him, and Thor doesn't mind that Natasha comes over and takes the Tesseract device from his hand. It makes sense that he is not fully trusted, and that they don't want a repeat of "Larry's" actions, another alien trying to take over the world (or at least New York).

"I'll leave you two to it, but JARVIS? Don't let anybody mess with the game board, I'm winning and I want to finish the game, okay?"

"Yes, Agent Romanoff."

She waves at the two of them and leaves the room, Tesseract device tucked under an arm.

"Hello, Loki. How are you feeling?"

Loki turns both of his thumbs up in a sign that Darcy must have taught him (at least, that's how Thor learned it).

"That's good. Mother says she misses you and she loves you."

And now, Thor's not fully familiar with Jötunn facial expressions, but he _knows_ Loki's smiling.

"She gave me some books from the library and told me about what you should and shouldn't eat. I don't know if you know this already, so stop me if you do, I don't want to bore you." Thor hands over the sack of books _carefully_ and explains about the dietary restrictions. He mentions that Odin had said that Loki may want to sleep more, but Loki dismisses that idea with a stubborn shake of his head (_Perhaps I shouldn't have revealed its source?_).

Loki nods along to Thor's explanation while absentmindedly flipping through one of the books on his lap. When he finishes explaining, Thor realizes that he certainly has not eaten today and he doubts Loki has either (and Mother had said that Loki would need to eat a lot), so he asks, "Do you want some food? I'm hungry."

It's clear that Loki's whole face lights up at that, so Thor goes into the kitchen to cook them both bacon and eggs, figuring that Loki should be able to eat that. He makes himself some toast but doesn't make Loki any, remembering what their mother had said about carbohydrates.

"JARVIS, I'll come back to clean this up after we eat, okay? Can you tell me how Steve is doing?" Thor talks as he walks, balancing the two plates carefully on his hands.

Loki practically dives for the food, shoveling it into his mouth as fast as he can chew.

"Captain Rogers is resting in his room, and Agent Barton has just recently left. That's all I'm allowed to say, however. Captain Rogers is particular about his privacy."

And Thor can respect that, so he thanks JARVIS and settles down to eat at a more sedate pace.

Halfway through Loki's meal, his fork, brittle with cold, snaps in two. Thor wordlessly hands his over and goes to get another one from the kitchen, adding cutlery to the mental list of all that he owes Tony Stark.

When he comes back into the room, two of his toast triangles are missing, but he finds that he cannot fault Loki for that. His brother knows his own limitations, and he is of sound mind, enough to choose what he wants to eat.

They eat in silence, and then Thor checks the clock on the wall, noticing that it is past lunchtime for the others.

"JARVIS, has everyone else eaten lunch?"

"No, Master Thor, nobody has eaten recently."

Thor stands, collecting his plate and Loki's. He needs to get himself a drink, and he needs to find out what Loki should be drinking now, as he would freeze most of Earth's consumable liquids. There's probably something on that in one of the books.

He shares this thought with Loki, who jerks a thumb over his shoulder at the living room, a gesture Thor takes to mean that Loki knows the answer is in one of the books. With that settled, Thor retrieves a water from the fridge and drains the bottle. Then, he puts their plates on top of the stack in the sink and goes back into the refrigerator, finding some cold cuts, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise, and makes sandwiches for all of the others.

He makes plenty of food and digs up extra plates and napkins, putting everything on the counter. Thor's not sure if Loki would appreciate a joke when he's like this, but he decides to try one anyway.

"Hey, brother. Do you know what you're good for right now?" He pauses long enough for Loki to pull a face at him like the face he makes when Thor has done something particularly stupid (his smile's more toothy now, sure, but that's _Loki's_ face, there is absolutely no denying that). "No? Well, you can keep the drinks cold for everyone else well!"

Loki snorts, and rolls his eyes at Thor, but holds out his hands expectantly, so Thor digs out drinks for everyone from the fridge (Coke for Tony, and sports drinks for the other three) and hands them to his brother.

Then he picks up the sandwiches and heads for the elevator. After a quick stop in their room so Thor can change clothes (out of his armor and into comfortable sweatpants and a t-shirt) and put Mjölnir away, they take their offering of lunch and return to the elevator, which Loki seems to have adjusted well to.

They go to Tony's lab first (after consulting JARVIS) and the engineer is glad for a break and lunch (which they have to put on the counter before he will take it), telling them between large bites that he's got the compound almost stabilized and he should have a working prototype within a couple hours ("Damn it, I'm not a chemist, but this shit is _fun_.").

Natasha and Clint are apparently in her room, and Thor tries to balance the plate and knock at the same time. Eventually he gives up and just asks JARVIS to let them know that they are outside the door.

They're also appreciative of lunch, but Clint takes everything out of Thor's hands, handing it to Natasha, and gingerly accepts all three drinks from Loki.

"I'll give these to Steve myself, he's kind of...upset. Seeing Loki might not be the best thing for him right now. Not that it's _your_ fault, Loki, it's just that, well, he was frozen in ice for about seventy years and cold gets to him, you know? Absolutely nothing personal."

Knowing that Loki wasn't "Larry" must have greatly helped Clint get over his aversion to Loki because he doesn't seem nearly as bothered by his presence now as he did just yesterday. That's good.

"I'll eat and then I'll come down and join you two," Natasha tells Thor and Loki. "I saw those books, and I'm guessing that I can't read them, but I can probably be helpful somehow. See you soon." She starts to ease the door shut, and taking the hint, Thor leads Loki back to the elevator.

He hasn't directly discussed the possible limitation on Loki's speech with him, and he wants to before Natasha comes down, so he beckons for Loki to come with him as he goes into the kitchen to wash the dishes.

"Loki, Father suggested that your inability to speak might be due to a spell placed on you by your captors. What do you think about that?"

After a moment of consideration, Loki shrugs, lifting his empty palms up.

"You don't have an opinion? A hypothesis, at least?"

Loki's head shake is definitive, and Thor tells him, "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see, huh?"

Thor finishes washing the dishes in silence, and back in the living room, Loki sorts through the stack of books to hand two to Thor, keeping several for himself.

"Are you _trying_ to imply that I can't read as fast as you can, you little brat?" This camaraderie is familiar, even if all of Loki's replies are nonverbal.

Loki's response to _that_ is a rude hand gesture that Thor definitely didn't teach him, thank you very much. So what's left for Thor to do but to flip him off in return?

They're both snickering like that time when they were little and their tutor found that all of his books were magically stuck shut. Their punishment for that had been harsh, but it had been a bonding experience, like so much else they had done together.

Natasha finds them like that, laughing, and she raises an eyebrow at them but plops in an armchair, her tablet in her hands.

Thor sobers and smiles at her. "We're just researching right now, and you were correct, that these books are in a script unfamiliar to your world. But I am having a little difficulty getting this word into English. Can you give me a hand with that?"

"Sure thing," she answers easily. "Try another language and I'll tell you if I know it or not."

Thor offers it in what she identifies as a dialect of Mandarin, and she pulls up a program on her tablet and scribbles for a moment, absentmindedly chewing on her lip.

She comes back with the right word after a moment, and when Thor tells her that he doesn't have anything else at the moment, she opens an e-reader program and starts to read.

Loki and Thor continue on working with the Asgardian texts, and Natasha hums under her breath while she reads.

After a minute, Loki carefully hands Thor a book, his finger on a certain section. It says that the Jötunn do not need to drink, as they get all of their liquid from their food. Thor, personally, thinks that sounds like a rather odd way to support oneself, but he just tells Loki, "Well, that's settled, then," and goes back to the book he was looking at.

Loki takes the book back and continues to read, but suddenly, he stops and inclines his head towards the door, hearing footsteps that Thor and Natasha, too, pick up on after a moment.

Thor tenses like Loki has done, but Natasha, who is usually on alert, doesn't.

And Thor realizes why when Tony bounds eagerly through the doors, carrying a stiff gray shirt and gloves that look large enough to fit Thor. Of course Natasha would know Tony's footsteps.

"Hey there, Goldilocks, Nat, kid. What's up?"

Loki bristles a little at the nickname, and Thor explains, "Loki is at least five hundred years older than you, Tony."

Tony waves an airy hand, dismissing the concern as irrelevant. "Whatever. Here," he thrusts his burden at Thor, "try these on."

Thor obliges, and he cautiously reaches out for Loki's bare arm. Loki holds completely still and watches his face, but when Thor holds their point of contact and does nothing to indicate pain, Loki brings his other hand over to rest on top of Thor's. Then, they embrace for a long moment, and even Tony has enough sense to not interrupt their tender moment.

"Thank you, Tony." Thor tries to infuse his voice with as much gratitude as he can, and he thinks he's fairly successful, if the slight pink stain to the engineer's cheeks is anything to go by.

"Anyway, since that works, I'm going to go make some more."

That makes Loki's brow wrinkle (_He's the only Jötunn I've seen with hair_, Thor thinks idly), so Thor takes a guess at Loki's intention and says, "We'll be fine with just this one, Loki knows to be careful."

The expression on Loki's face makes Thor think he's gotten it right.

"Hey, it's no problem," Tony waves a hand (again, he's a very demonstrative speaker). "When this is all done with, there's probably a school that would love to have these. Or I can patent this for medical and research applications..." He's still talking (to himself?) as he walks purposefully towards the elevator.

"Tony would say it's an issue if it is, don't worry," Natasha reassures them. "I'll go make sure he takes a break soon. I should get a salary for this shit."

That last part sounds like a comment directed at no one in particular, so Thor doesn't respond.

A little while later she speaks up again, "Well, it doesn't seem like you need me right now, so I'm going to go force Tony out of the lab for a little while. See you at dinner."

She leaves and Loki stands to stretch, so Thor does the same. He asks Loki about the state of his magic, but his brother just shakes his head sadly.

But when they sit back down, Loki picks up the spell books rather than the books on Jötunn physiology.

* * *

That evening Tony outfits everyone with his creations (even Steve, who has emerged from his room but stays close to Clint's side, away from Loki), and they eat dinner together (Loki eats more than Thor but nobody comments on that) and laugh at how ridiculous they look. Steve doesn't really participate, and Tony looks like he's dead on his feet, but he hides it well.

After dinner, Loki and Natasha resume their game (after she packs Tony off to bed and Clint and Steve disappear to the gym together) while Thor lounges in a chair with a novel. It's just after eight PM when her phone rings.

"Rushman. ...Okay, I'll tell him. Yes, the affidavit is being overnighted to you. _Goodnight_, Mr. Sanders."

She hangs up and turns a serious face on Thor. "They've cleared Bruce to return to the country contingent on that affidavit. Once it gets here tomorrow, he should be good to come on back. Want to call him tonight?"

Thor is strangely hesitant to, though he thinks he hides it well. "No, because isn't your mail notoriously unreliable? We shouldn't get their hopes up. It will be better to call once everything is settled."

She gives him a long look but lets it go, telling JARVIS to let the others know. Thor doesn't meet Loki's eyes, not wanting to know what he will see there.

He knows it's selfish, to want more time with Loki to himself before his boyfriend comes back. But he does want it. Time management has never been his strong suit, and he almost doesn't want the worry that results from two people healing themselves on his shoulders.

Thor doesn't admire himself for this.

* * *

**Thoughts?**


	20. Hasty

**Holy shit, 200 reviews. That's fucking awesome, y'all.**

**I can't say enough times that dysprositos is the absolute best.**

* * *

The next morning, Loki doesn't wake up when Thor does, and Thor briefly considers getting one of the gloves that Tony had made for them so that he can shake his shoulder, but he decides against that, knowing that Loki needs his rest because his magic working to repair itself is draining his energy.

Instead, Thor dresses quietly and goes to the stairwell to find the others—and breakfast.

"JARVIS, tell Loki where I am when he wakes up, please."

"Yes, Master Thor."

Steve and Clint are in the kitchen together, talking softly over coffee, the waffle maker heating up next to the stove. Thor hates to interrupt, but before he can retreat, Steve calls, "Good morning, Thor," and Thor has no choice but to go in.

Clint's up, on his feet, when Thor comes in, and the archer offers an empty mug to Thor, who takes it and puts it under the coffeemaker, reading the buttons before pressing the correct one to give him a simple black coffee. He's never really understood the fancy coffees, and besides, caffeine hardly affects his system.

"How's Loki?" Clint asks, leaning against the counter across from Thor.

"He's still asleep, but that's a good thing. Our father said that he would need additional sleep because his magic is working overtime."

"I never really heard what was going on with him," Steve says. "Can you explain it to me?" The supersoldier looks like he's not completely thrilled with the idea, but Thor trusts him to know his own limits.

He explains about Loki's magic working to heal itself, how it's removing all foreign magics including their father's glamour, and Steve nods along like that makes sense. Then, surprising Thor, Steve has another question. "Can you do magic like Loki?"

"I am capable of magic to a much lesser degree than Loki. My skills are entirely related to lightning and a slight degree of control over the weather. I cannot work anything without Mjölnir, though. Loki can do almost any kind of magic, but he does have more skill in some areas than others. He can also work without channeling through anything, but that's something not many people know. That's probably why 'Larry' used that scepter, because the Chitauri did not know enough about Loki to understand that he could do magic unassisted."

"Or Larry may not have been able to do magic by himself," Steve offers.

"That's true. How are you doing, Steve? I'm sorry that we've caused you undue stress." Thor's not really sorry, but faking apologies is one of the first things he learned how to do as a prince, and he doesn't want to have the team leader angry at him. Or Loki, because his brother doesn't need to be dealing with that.

"I've been better, honestly. But I know it's nobody's fault but my own—"

"Red Skull's," Clint interrupts.

"—And yes, Red Skull's fault."

_Isn't that interesting?_ Thor thinks. _It's good that these two have each other_.

"I'm glad to hear that, Steve," Thor says instead of what he is thinking. _Because that might not go over so well with what Steve's told me. At least, not right now_, he amends.

The waffle maker dings, and Steve puts his coffee aside and stands, going over to pull a bowl out of the fridge and pouring the batter into the waffle maker.

Clint hands Thor's coffee (that he'd forgotten about, oops) to him and puts his own cup under the coffee maker for a refill.

Thor sits down at the table, and Clint joins him, reaching for the half-and-half pushed off to one side and adding it to his drink. When he offers it to Thor, the demigod declines.

They sit in companionable silence for a couple minutes and then Steve sets a plate on the table with the first waffles, cramming half of one into his mouth as he goes back to make another batch.

Thor and Clint reach for the rest at the same time, and then they both try to give it to the other before Thor sets down his coffee and reaches in to rip the waffles apart, giving Clint half and keeping the rest for himself.

Steve wordlessly returns to hand Clint the maple syrup and Clint smiles at him, pulling the now empty plate towards him so that he doesn't make a mess.

Natasha comes into the kitchen silently, slipping up behind Clint and poking him roughly in the ribs. He turns to swat at her, and she neatly dodges, swooping down with a fork she must have taken from Steve and snagging a bite of his waffle. Their easy camaraderie makes Thor wish Loki was down there, but he understands his brother's need for sleep.

After getting herself a cup of coffee, Natasha offers to help Steve, who turns her down, "But you can do the dishes though!"

Clint laughs at her, and she points a finger at him. "You're gonna help me."

Fifteen minutes and five shared waffles later, Tony wanders into the kitchen shirtless with his hair sticking up in several different directions.

He swipes Thor's plate and starts eating, and Thor gets up to get the engineer a cup of coffee, not really minding the imposition. Volstagg is much the same way, incapable of proper manners and civility until he has eaten and drunk his morning mead.

Once Tony has finished stuffing his face, he manages a semi-cheery, "Good morning, sunshine! Well, sunshine_s_."

Clint flips him off and Steve calls a good morning from his position next to the waffle maker, his plate in his hands.

"Hey, the batter's almost out. This next batch is for Loki, and you wolves can feed yourselves," Steve informs them.

"Actually, Steve, Loki's not supposed to have many carbohydrates. I'll make something for him when he wakes up. But thank you, anyway."

"If you say so, Thor."

Steve unplugs the waffle maker and comes over to the table, offering the final few waffles to everyone. Clint and Natasha decline but Tony takes two and Thor's reaching for one when Natasha's phone rings.

"Rushman. ...It came? Good. ...Okay, I'll tell Mr. Stark. Thank you. Take the rest of the day off but don't go anywhere, this isn't over yet."

She hangs up the phone and addresses the group at large, "Bruce is in the clear. They got everything they needed to get all charges against him dropped, and I wouldn't be surprised if SHIELD has to do some serious bootlicking after this."

Thor says nothing.

"Well, that's great news! Hey, Thor, why don't you go call him? Tell him I'll send the jet up for them to the nearest airport, okay?" Tony offers.

Thor can't think of an excuse before they're all looking at him like he's committed some huge breach of etiquette, so he stands up, dishes in hand, and says, "Yeah. Yeah, I'll just go...do that."

He can hear them whispering to each other as he leaves the room, but he lets it go.

* * *

Up in their room, Thor quietly digs his cell phone out of the nightstand drawer and retreats to the stairwell to call Bruce, settling onto a step, his feet resting several stairs below the rest of him.

Darcy answers the phone, sounding wary, "Hello?"

"Darcy? Hi, it's Thor." And knowing that he can't escape speaking to Bruce without more suspicion falling on him, he requests, "Can I talk to Bruce?"

But luck is on his side, because she says, "He's in the shower. Can you tell me or do you need to talk to him?"

Relieved, his words tumble out a little too quickly, "No, I can tell you. The lawyers have removed the charges against Bruce, and you can come home."

"That's great! Um, how are we getting home?"

"Tony says he'll send the jet to the airport where you are. Can you get there?"

"Sure we can. We'll be there in two hours! Oh, this is wonderful!"

"See you then, Darcy."

"'Bye, Thor."

She hangs up the phone, and Thor lets his hand fall to his lap. He _knows_ he's being selfish, and childish, and he's in the wrong here, but he just wanted a little more _time_ and that doesn't seem like too much to ask for, does it?

Bruce had said that he understood that Thor needs to prioritize Loki above him, but Thor doesn't have enough faith in himself to think that he can balance his responsibility well with his relationship. For all that he's older than the rest of his friends here, he's still very young, and Bruce isn't the only insecure one in their relationship.

He's almost secretly a little resentful of Bruce for putting him in this position, but that's certainly _not_ healthy, so he does his best to repress it.

But he does acknowledge that he might have been a little...hasty in asking Bruce out. He hadn't been thinking of cause and effect, or consequences. He'd wanted to ask Bruce out, so he had, but it might have not been the best decision at the time. Not with Loki's care as his responsibility. He doesn't know if he can do everything he's committed himself to, doesn't know if he can be everything he needs to be.

After a few minutes of indulging in his feelings of inadequacy, he squashes it ruthlessly back down and stands up to go do...something that isn't thinking.

* * *

Thor's helping Clint and Natasha with the dishes (well, getting in their way is probably more accurate) when Loki walks into the room, setting down Thor's protective clothing as he takes a seat at the table.

Thor waves good morning to his brother and pulls out the ingredients to make him breakfast, high in meat and calories, like their mother had said he would need.

Loki eats quickly, with more relish than his usually refined brother displays, and Thor watches him, wondering if anything has changed overnight.

But Loki doesn't let on that anything has, and when Natasha offers to take Loki down to the gym to assess his skills, Thor can't object.

Clint follows them out of the kitchen, the dishes done except for Loki's, and calls, "Come on down when you're done, okay, big guy?"

"Sure," Thor answers distractedly. _Great, Odinson, you're alone _again_. Just what you wanted to avoid._

He does the dishes quickly, dons the protective gear, and hurries down to watch Natasha put Loki through his paces in the open area of the gym.

Doing violent things may not be the best thing for Loki's mental state, but Thor's pretty sure that Loki doesn't do anything he doesn't want to, so he doesn't object.

Clint gives Loki a set of throwing knives, and Loki grins, flashing his teeth. Guessing what's going to happen next, Thor freezes, and sure enough, Loki throws three knives at his left arm where it rests along his side. The knives embed themselves into the padded wall, and Thor sees Natasha and Clint reel back in shock. He's impressed that his brother has managed to get the two usually reserved assassins to show such visible surprise.

He easily pulls the knives from the wall and pushes off himself, walking over to Loki, who puts out an impatient hand.

Thor rolls his eyes but carefully gives his brother the weapons anyway, knowing that Loki enjoys showing off, and has not gotten enough of an opportunity to do it in the past. Thor's fault, probably.

Since he knows his thoughts are probably showing on his face, he is subconsciously monitoring the room around him, particularly Loki, because he knows his brother will attempt to drag him out of his mind.

Sure enough, Loki flings a knife at his head, making Clint gasp and Natasha take a threatening step towards Loki before she sees Thor catch the knife easily with one hand and send it winging back in Loki's direction.

Loki catches and tosses his head back in silent laughter before offering the knife to Thor hilt first and selecting one of his own, discarding the others to the side.

And they've done this thousands of times before, sparred, though usually with Thor's choice of weapons. But they've never done it while Thor was wearing bulky protective gear, and that's a challenge he's looking forward to.

Thor's a little uncertain, not knowing if attempting violence, pretend or not, on Loki's person is the best for his brother's mental health. But Loki knows himself well, and Thor trusts him to make the right choice.

He accepts the knife and drops into a ready stance, sensing more than seeing Clint and Natasha move out of their way.

Across from him, Loki crouches and starts to circle, so Thor copies him, moving his feet carefully but easily.

Out of caution for Loki, Thor uncustomarily does not make the first move, and so it is Loki who lunges in, swinging his knife out from his side in a graceful arc.

Thor intercepts the blade with his own, but clumsily, and his brother's knife slides down the blade of his own, heading directly for the gap where, with Thor's arm extended, protective shirt and glove do not quite meet.

But the blade bounces harmlessly off the skin, and Thor realizes that Loki must have protected the edges of the knives so that they did not unintentionally injure each other. For him to do that, he must have some measure of magic under his control, and if this fight wasn't what Loki clearly wanted, Thor would call a halt so that he could discuss this with his brother.

Natasha and Clint don't know about Loki's protective magic, though, and they move in immediately, Natasha calling for them to separate.

Thor holds up his uninjured arm and waves them off, moving in to tackle Loki. After all, his brother had never indicated that this was _just_ a knife fight.

Loki goes down hard on the mat, Thor's free arm under his head to cushion the blow, Thor twisting to make sure their bottom halves don't meet so that he doesn't get frostbitten.

Of course, that's the moment that Bruce and Darcy walk into the gym because Thor's luck works like that.

He pulls off Loki immediately, putting his knife to the side on the mat and offering his brother a hand up.

Then he walks toward their friends (_Darcy and my boyfriend_), making absolutely sure that he is smiling. As he strides, he pulls off his protective gear, and when he reaches them, he hugs Darcy and hands it to her, knowing she'll want to greet Loki.

She starts to shrug on the too-big shirt as she exits his field of vision, and Bruce's tentative smile is all that Thor cares to notice after that. He can't remember any reason why he had thought Bruce coming home was a bad idea, not at that moment.

He reaches out to hug his boyfriend, pulling him in tightly. Bruce's legs dangle off the ground, and Thor has to smother a chuckle at their height difference, so starkly outlined in this moment.

But he knows that he should tell Bruce some of what's been going through his head, that being forthright with his boyfriend is only fair after Bruce's candid honesty, so he takes Bruce's hand and waves with his free arm at Darcy and Loki (who are still hugging, hmm). Clint and Natasha are nowhere to be seen, and Thor guesses that they've cleared out to give them some privacy.

With his grip on Bruce's hand, he tugs the scientist down the hall and into the elevator. Bruce looks quizzically at him, but doesn't say anything, just adjusts his hand in Thor's a little.

The doors open, and Thor leads Bruce to the access stairs to the roof. He's only been out there once, but he knows it's not a popular spot for the others, so they should be able to talk in private.

Thor drops onto the ground, putting his back to the wall and stretching his legs out in front of him, and Bruce awkwardly sits next to him, crosslegged.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, then Bruce asks curiously, "What's wrong, Thor?"

Thor's not entirely sure _how_ Bruce knows something is wrong; he's been careful to keep his face in a neutral expression (or so he thinks), but he answers truthfully but shortly, "I'm worried."

"About what?" Bruce prompts, after a moment.

"Worried I'm going to screw this up."

Bruce bites his lip. "Why is that?"

"Because this is the first serious relationship I've ever had. Because Loki needs me right now and I feel guilty about that since you're here." He's not going to mention anything about the fact that he kind of regrets asking Bruce out when he did because he knows that might be upsetting. And he's trying to keep the lines of communication between them open, not scare his boyfriend off.

"Well, I completely understand about Loki, so please don't worry about that." Bruce chews his lip briefly before continuing, "And you know, I'm sure any one of the rest of us would be happy to assist Loki with anything he might need. Just because you're his brother doesn't mean that the whole burden of caring for him as he recovers and gets his magic back falls squarely on your shoulders. That's what friends are for."

And Bruce is exactly right, Thor knows that, but he's curious about something, "How did you know that about his magic?"

"JARVIS gave Darcy and me a summary of the situation when we got in the Tower. How's Steve, by the way?"

"He's fine. I think his hand is all healed, but he's still pretty upset about...something. But he hides it well."

"That's too bad. He's gone through a lot," Bruce replies diplomatically. "And as for this being your first serious relationship, don't worry about that, either. It's only my second."

Maybe it's a little odd to wonder about your significant other's previous significant other, but Thor's used to being just barely on the right side of propriety, so he asks, "Tell me about your first. Dr. Ross, right?"

"Yeah, Betty. She and I met when we were undergraduates in college, and it took me a couple times of hanging out with her in groups with our other friends before I asked her out." Bruce gives a half-smile. "Kinda amazed I asked her at all. But it got serious fast, and we were pretty much inseparable. She's a good person, and she says she has someone else now. I'm happy for her, but I'm not in love with her anymore, if that's what you're asking."

And the small jealous part of Thor's brain _was_ asking that, but that's not what he chooses to focus on. "Have you spoken to her recently?"

"Me? No, I know about her meeting someone else because she left me a letter in with the key I gave to you."

"Natasha got in contact with her, I believe. She needed to sign something relating to the papers she left in storage that the lawyers used to get the charges against you dropped." _Yes_, Thor admits to himself, _this is a test of sorts. I'm a terrible person, but I just have to know_.

"She did? Well, I'm glad Betty was able to help. I just hope her father doesn't get wind of it." Bruce frowns slightly, eyebrows furrowed.

"Natasha knows how to be discreet," Thor reassures him.

Bruce laughs, the momentary shadow gone. "Oh, I know. Did anybody ever tell you how she found me to bring me in on the Avengers Initiative?"

"...No."

Bruce explains, and it's an interesting story.

They keep on chatting for awhile, Thor secure in the knowledge that JARVIS knows where they are and will alert him if anything goes wrong with Loki. Darcy's with him, and Thor's seen the way they look at each other. He can't find it in himself to be jealous that his little brother's getting himself a girl at the same time Thor is (_okay, that's a bad analogy_, Thor realizes, _time to get out of your head, Odinson_).

And Thor's starting to get uncomfortable with sitting on hard concrete for so long, and if the subtle way Bruce is shifting is any indication, he is too, so before he can lose his nerve, Thor swoops in and brushes his lips across Bruce's before pushing himself to his feet and offering the gaping scientist a hand up.

Bruce takes it and stumbles up to stand upright, and Thor keeps their hands linked as they start for the door.

He disentangles his hand from Bruce's grip so he can hold the door for the scientist, and then he grabs Bruce's hand as his boyfriend reaches out to push the button for the elevator.

Once they've gone in and the doors have shut, Bruce turns to Thor, craning his head up so he can see the demigod's face. Thor tries to slouch unobtrusively to make it easier for Bruce.

Bruce asks, "What was that?" He sounds a little surprised, still, and Thor wonders if perhaps he shouldn't have done that—if startling Bruce is _really_ the best idea—before he ruthlessly squashes that down as the utter ridiculousness it is. He trusts Bruce.

Rather than dwell on that any longer, Thor answers, a note of teasing in his voice, "A kiss, silly. Don't you know what that is?"

Rolling his eyes, Bruce replies, "'Course I do. But why right then?"

"Because I wanted to." And he decides to add, "Was that a problem?"

"No, not really..." Bruce reaches up and hooks his free hand around the back of Thor's neck, and the demigod allows himself to be pulled down into a longer kiss.

They're still embracing when the elevator dings and before they can break apart, Darcy cheers.

Blushing, Bruce pulls back, and Thor lets him go, turning to see Darcy, who has traded in her protective gear for a set that fits her better and is still squealing, and Loki, who leans against the wall opposite the elevator, his trademark smirk on his face.

Thor looks past them and sees that they're on the 74th floor, where he and Loki sleep, and he offers, "Want to look at those spellbooks, brother? You've obviously got at least some of your magic under your control."

Loki nods, and Darcy pushes past Thor into the elevator, linking her bulkily attired arm with Bruce's, "Let's go. I haven't eaten since breakfast, and I'm _hungry_."

Bruce gently pulls his hand away from Thor's and says to Darcy, "To be fair, I'm pretty sure you're always hungry. I haven't seen you turn down food yet."

She pouts dramatically as she reaches for the buttons, "You're such a meanie!"

Bruce laughs, and he's still laughing when the doors close. Confident now that Bruce doesn't mind him spending time with Loki, Thor turns to face his brother and bosses, "Let's go, I don't have all day!"

The eye roll that comment earns him inspires one of his own, and smiling, Thor leads the way to the bedroom where they've left the books sent from Asgard.

* * *

**Dare I even ask for comments?**


	21. Situational Evidence

**I can't say enough times that dysprositos is awesome. She deals with me attempting science, which should get her an award on its own, plus all the rest of my crazy. Which deserves multiple awards.**

**Exciting things ahead...**

* * *

In their bedroom, Thor and Loki settle onto their beds, Loki passing Thor a book and picking up two for himself.

There's a bookmark sticking out of the top of one of Loki's books, and Thor watches Loki turn to that page and read its contents before offering it to Thor to look over.

It looks like the correct spell for Loki's glamour, but it's complicated. The spell actually alters Loki's body, giving him the physiology of an Æsir. According to some of the books on the Jötunn that Thor has read, this means that some of his brother's internal organs are actually rearranged, and his cardiovascular system is completely different.

The difference in climates between Asgard and Jötunheim means that the Jötunn nervous system is completely different from that of an Æsir. It seems like it might be painful, all of those sensitive nerves being rearranged, and Thor's hands briefly clench into fists at the thought of his father causing pain to a helpless infant Loki.

One of his gloves hits his head, thrown at him by Loki, and Thor rolls his eyes but relaxes his hands and says, "Do you think you're ready for this? Do you have enough of your magic under your control?"

Loki nods solemnly.

"If you say so. But isn't a large part of your magic still tied up in removing the Chitauri's influence from your body?"

Loki never, ever fails to surprise Thor. Thor doesn't know _why_ he ever expects any less. "You should not put so much stock in Father's words, brother. He does not know what's going on in my head."

Thor gapes. And sits there with his mouth hanging open like a fish for a good two minutes while Loki laughs at him. This, at least, is familiar.

"Loki?"

"No, Thor, I'm Fandral. Of course it's me, you oaf."

Protective gear or no protective gear, Thor is going to hug his brother, frostbite be damned, but when he lunges for Loki, he bounces off a protective field in front of his brother.

"Oh, good, that works."

Slightly dazed, Thor retakes his seat, realizing now that perhaps such a movement might have upset Loki, triggered something about his captivity. He asks casually, trying to divert Loki's attention from any negative thoughts, "New spell?"

"Yes. First time I've tried it. I had never seen this spellbook before, and it is most...interesting."

_T__hat_, more than anything, proves that this _is_ Thor's brother, and he says, "That was awfully convenient timing, Loki."

Loki's grin is no less feral than when they were sparring earlier. "Well, yes. I wanted to...surprise you."

"You certainly did, you ass."

"Good. Now, let's work on this. I'm not exactly fond of the idea of running around like a freak any longer than I have to."

And Thor can't let him go on thinking _that_, so he tells his brother, "You're _not_ a freak. You're my brother, and I love you."

"Even though I lied to you? Even though I tried to kill you? And succeeded?"

So Loki _does_ remember that. Thor wasn't sure if he did or not. "I do not mind that, brother. You had just learned a truth that should have been told to you ages ago, and you had every right to be angry." Thor spreads his arms, "And besides, I'm fine now. I believe the expression is 'no blood, no foul?'"

Loki looks serious. "I was very childish."

Thor needs to tread carefully, but he wants Loki to understand. "Yes, but, like I said, you were well within your rights to be upset. I can't understand how you can forgive _me_, however. I let you fall."

Loki straightens, "No, Thor, that was not your fault. I _chose_ to let go. Why would you think it was your fault, anyway? It would have been physically impossible for you to rescue me. I know this, and if you have half a brain in your head, you do too."

Thor ignores the insult in favor of the serious question, "Larry said I had flung him into the abyss, and I suppose I believed him."

"You just like feeling guilty."

That statement hits a little too close to the truth for Thor, and he is quick to divert Loki's attention (and deny it), "No. But why _did_ you let go?"

Loki averts his eyes. "Because I didn't think I deserved Asgard. I was...I _am_ a monster, and living the life of a prince is more than I merit. Especially after my actions while Father was in the Odinsleep."

Thor notices Loki's use of the present tense and scrambles to correct his brother, "You do deserve Asgard. More so than any of the rest of us. And you are royalty, both Æsir and Jötunn. Your blood is bluer than mine."

"To be fair, my blood is currently bluer than any of our acquaintances'."

Thor laughs. It's _so good_ to have his brother back.

"So I say you weren't in the wrong, and you say I wasn't in the wrong. To be honest, I would like to put all of this behind me, Thor. But what does Father say about all of this?"

"He regrets not telling you sooner. And if you're asking about punishment, I believe he feels that your sojourn with the Chitauri was consequence enough. And if he doesn't? Well, then, Mother and I will strive to correct him."

"You're a good big brother, you know?"

That's actually the first time Loki has _ever_ said that, and the first time somebody beside Frigga told him that. Thor's stunned, and for the second time this conversation, his jaw drops.

"C'mon, it can't be that shocking that I appreciate you, can it?"

And then a minute later, "Okay, then, apparently it can."

When Thor still hasn't done anything besides gape, Loki throws the other glove from Thor's protective gear at his face.

Finally, Thor recovers enough to tell his brother, "You're a damn good brother yourself. And thank you. I don't know if you know how much that means to me."

"I've got a pretty good idea now. But are we done with the 'mushy shit' now? I'd kind of like to stop looking like a 'giant Smurf.'"

"You've been hanging around Darcy too much," Thor says, because where else would Loki pick up expressions like that? But he hands over the spellbook anyway because he still has a hard time telling his younger brother 'no.'

Loki accepts it, and carries it to the middle of the room, clearing a space around him.

"Can I help?" Thor asks.

"Just stay out of my way, and don't interfere. 'I've got this.'" And that's another phrase learned from Darcy, Thor is sure.

Loki holds the spellbook at eye level and begins to chant, which is new for Thor. He usually hasn't been allowed to watch his brother do magic, and when he has been, it's been nonverbal spells only.

After a few moments of chanting, the air around Loki begins to draw in on itself, creating a thin sheet between him and the rest of the room.

It presses in on itself, and Loki's face twists slightly, but he keeps going.

There's a bright flash of light, and Thor has to throw a hand in front of his eyes to protect them.

When he lowers his hand, Loki is doubled over, hands on his knees, panting. But he's pink, smaller, Æsir. Truthfully, Thor almost prefers his other form because this one feels too much like Loki is lying to himself, but he understands that Loki feels the need to fit in. A blue-skinned man walking around on Earth would cause a bit of a stir.

All of a sudden, Tony comes rushing through the doorway, looking around frantically. "What's going on? JARVIS said there was a disturbance in here!"

Loki straightens, "No disturbance, Stark, merely magic."

Tony does a double-take, "The fuck? Loki?"

"Indeed," Loki inclines his head slightly.

"Whoa. So you've got your mojo back then?"

"Obviously."

"No need to get snarky with me, we're friends, remember? Wait, you _do_ remember, right? All that magic shit hasn't fucked with your brain?"

"That's an awful lot of questions, Stark. And no, I am perfectly aware of who you are. Magic does not affect my mind in the slightest." He pauses and frowns slightly, "At least not _my_ magic."

Thor takes that as his cue to go over to Loki and sling an arm around his shoulder. Loki puts an arm around his waist in return, and Thor practically beams.

"Okay, then, we're all good. You can call me Tony, you know, Gandalf. And do you know what this calls for? Pizza! JARVIS, get everyone's orders and put in a call to that place, you know. My usual, of course."

"Of course, sir. Masters Thor and Loki?"

"Pepperoni is fine, please," Thor answers.

Loki asks for vegetable pizza, and as the brothers prepare to follow their host from the room, he whispers to Thor, "Gandalf?"

Tony overhears and explains exuberantly, "He's only like the best known wizard of all time! That's it, we're so having a Lord of the Rings marathon. It's illegal to exist without knowing about Middle-earth."

"That does sound interesting, doesn't it, Thor?" Loki asks, tipping his head enough so that he can make eye contact with Thor.

And that sounds like something he can do with Loki, and Bruce, and all of their friends, so it sounds good to Thor. He tells Loki as much.

"Sentimental fool." But Loki says that fondly, like it's a good thing.

* * *

Bruce is laughing at Darcy's insatiable appetite when the elevator doors close, but he sobers quickly when she whirls on him, crowding into his personal space carelessly like she's made a habit of doing.

"I need details, stat. Spill, Banner," she demands, playfully pointing an imperious finger at him. It feels good, that the vaguely threatening gesture doesn't make him react in anything other than mild irritation and of course fondness for his friend.

"Um, Darcy, I'm pretty sure you saw everything you needed to see." And then he adds, "Or has no one explained the birds and the bees to you? You see, when a boy and, uh, another boy love each other—"

She swats his arm, and then hooks her hand through it when the elevator doors open, dragging him towards the kitchen, "Seriously, though, doc, you seem pretty well adjusted to the whole, I don't know, thing. You know, being with another guy and all?"

"Homosexuality never bothered me, Darcy. I never thought of myself that way, sure, but it's not about Thor's body, it's about _Thor_. He's a really great guy."

"Good, good. But seriously, that body isn't at least part of it? I mean, I would _so_ hit that. I mean, you know, if you weren't dating him." She pulls back to look at him warily, "You're not the jealous type, are you?"

"Too many questions, Darce. Yes, Thor is incredibly attractive, and I recognize that, but there's a mental attraction too, and that takes precedence. And no, I'm not the jealous type. I mean, Loki's kind of hot, in a whole my-boyfriend's-little-brother way. Right?"

"Yeah! I mean, everybody around here is hot. Except for maybe Tony."

Bruce snorts and then waves to Steve, who has just walked into the kitchen behind them. "Steve, we were just going to get something to eat. Are you hungry?" He's still kind of...bothered with Steve's attitude towards him, and he also doesn't know how Steve has reacted to the news of Bruce and Thor dating.

"Sure, but I can help you get it."

Bruce, with his new insight, knows he needs to man up and talk to Steve. It can't be any harder than talking to Thor about his relationship insecurities. _Just do it, Banner_.

"Hey, Darce, d'you think you could go find Natasha and Clint? I think Steve and I need to talk."

She looks between them, pats Bruce's arm, and then heads out the door, asking JARVIS where Natasha and Clint are.

Steve, meanwhile, appears to be attempting to unobtrusively follow her.

"Steve, sit down." And then Bruce realizes how that sounded, and adds, "Please. I'm sorry, that was harsh."

Steve sits, and abruptly says, "I'm sorry about treating you the way I have been."

Bruce takes a seat across from him, their snack momentarily irrelevant, "Steve, I didn't want to talk to you so you could apologize to me. I want to apologize to you. I was selfish, and you were right, just looking out for the team. You were right, Steve."

"You haven't been the only selfish one, Bruce. I'm still adjusting, and that's _not_ an excuse. I'm trying to come to terms with some things that have been challenging for me, and that's made me harder to be around. I get that you would never put anyone here in danger willingly. That's not the kind of person you are."

"That's the kind of person I'd like to be, yeah. And I don't blame you for anything. I can't imagine what you're going through, and you're a good person, Steve. You really are."

Steve smiles, "Funny, Thor said almost the same thing. Congrats on that, by the way."

"Thank you. I'm happy, and I think he's happy. But are you okay with this? You've expressed some issues with dealing with the, um, openness of today."

"That was never about you, that was about me. Midlife crisis, a little too early, I guess."

"Who's having a midlife crisis?" Tony interrupts as he strides into the kitchen, Thor and Loki following in his wake, Thor's arm around his brother's shoulders.

Bruce promptly feels his jaw drop, because Loki is no longer in his Jötunn form. He looks much like he did before, but his hair is shorter, more well-groomed than it had been.

Steve answers Tony, "No one."

Loki shrugs Thor's arm off and moves over to stand in front of Bruce, who stands to be on more of a level with the demigod, though he's still several inches shorter.

Making deliberate eye contact, Loki says, "If you hurt him, I will hurt you." And apparently he's talking now, too. That's good, at least Bruce _thinks_ so, even if the first thing Loki did was threaten him. Tony doesn't seem surprised that the demigod is talking, but Steve does.

Chuckling nervously as he realizes he should say something, Bruce replies, "I figured. And I don't have any plans to hurt him, Loki."

"Good." Imperiously, the demigod returns to Thor's side, subtly pressing against him until Thor slings his arm back around Loki's shoulders.

The display of vulnerability makes Bruce smile, and with that smile still on his face, he turns back to Steve, "If you want to talk, I'm a pretty good listener, I think."

"Okay, Bruce. Thank you."

With that settled, and before Tony can butt in again, Bruce offers, "Steve and I were just about to get a snack, does anybody else want something?"

"Sure, doc, make some popcorn. Those two," Tony gestures at Thor and Loki, "have never seen Lord of the Rings. That's like...illegal or some shit. So I've got pizza on the way, right JARVIS?"

"Yes sir, I have ordered what Masters Thor and Loki requested, and ordered what everyone else ate the last time you ate pizza. It should arrive in approximately thirty-five minutes, since their location is across town."

"I thought I told you to ask everyone what they wanted, you sneaky, efficient robot, you."

"Indeed, sir."

Bruce breaks in before those two can start insulting each other like they have been known to do to the exclusion of all other activities, "I'll get the popcorn if someone will give me a hand. Tony, shouldn't you let the others know?"

"I'll help you," Thor offers at the same time Tony addresses JARVIS again, telling him to invite "Nat, Katniss, and the girl who clearly doesn't recognize genius when she sees it" to come join in their movie marathon. Slightly more explicitly, of course.

Thor and Loki share a long look before Loki gestures for Tony and Steve to lead the way from the room, leaving Thor and Bruce alone.

As soon as the others have gone, Thor strides over to Bruce and stoops for a quick kiss. Then he goes to wash his hands, asking Bruce what he can do to help.

Bruce shakes his head to clear it, and asks JARVIS where the popcorn is, holding up one finger to request that Thor wait a moment.

Deciding that four bags might be enough for a start since pizza is on the way, Bruce puts the first bag in the microwave and asks Thor to get bowls for everyone and drinks.

Thor starts ferrying drinks into the living room, and after his second trip, he reports that Clint, Natasha, and Darcy have joined the others.

A few minutes later, the popcorn is all made (and disappearing fast, if the loud crunching noises and lack of conversation coming from the living room are anything to go by), so Bruce heads into the living room, carrying the last bag.

They've gotten cushions from somewhere, and circled the two couches facing a large expanse of blank wall space. Darcy, Loki, Steve, and Natasha all lie on the cushions on the floor, while Tony and Clint occupy opposite ends of one couch and Thor sits alone on the other.

Bruce supposes that's where he's supposed to go, and he carefully maneuvers around Darcy, who grins up at him but makes no move to get out of his way, to put the last bag of popcorn on the table between the two couches. Stepping around Loki, who actually leans out of his way, he settles next to Thor on the couch.

Apparently, it's not close enough, because Thor reaches over to pull Bruce in close, leaving his arm over the scientist's shoulder after Bruce is positioned to his satisfaction.

Tony calls for JARVIS to start the movie, and the AI darkens the windows before he begins the film.

It's been a few years since Bruce has seen the trilogy (movies aren't exactly necessities—or easy to get hold of where he's been), and he's quite comfortably settled in to watch the film with his boyfriend and his friends.

Nothing's ever that easy, though.

About fifteen minutes in, JARVIS pauses the movie and the windows are abruptly untinted.

"What the hell?" Tony asks.

"My apologies, sir, but a brigade of SHIELD helicopters is flying in formation in New York airspace, and I have calculated the probability of their target being Stark Tower to be eighty-nine point one two seven percent. Furthermore, they do not seem to have friendly intentions."

"Fuck," Tony swears, standing up and maneuvering around the others on the floor, running for the elevator, still swearing under his breath.

Natasha and Clint are on their feet, and Clint's pulling a bow from the bookcase in the corner of the room, Natasha taking a black case from the shelf below and strapping on her holsters.

Steve scrambles to his feet and calls for JARVIS to patch Tony into the room's audio before looking around quickly and making a decision.

"Clint, I want you, Tony, and Thor to get to the roof. Tony, Thor, I need you in the air, but don't attack unless they attack first. I don't want this pinned on us as the belligerents. Clint, once they've confirmed that we _are_ under attack, I need you to go for vulnerable parts of the choppers, try and get them out of the air."

Thor drops a kiss on Bruce's head, a hand briefly onto Loki's shoulder, and leaves the room, presumably headed for Mjölnir. Clint nods to Steve and follows him, shouldering his bow as he leaves the room at a run. Tony calls his acceptance, and says he'll be in the air in under two minutes. As he disconnects, he can be heard telling JARVIS to cancel the pizza order and do what he can to divert traffic from the area.

Natasha looks at Steve, "What about us?" Bruce is gratified that her accompanying gesture seems to include him.

He's very in control, and his body isn't even attempting to produce a Hulk-out. That's good news, and, a small part of his mind notes, progress.

Steve makes eye contact with Bruce and seems reassured by what he sees on the scientist's face. "Bruce, I don't think Hulk would help here. At least not right now, but we may need him as backup later. You need to stay with Loki and Darcy. I think there are people in the offices on the lower levels, you three need to evacuate them. Natasha, you stay with them, if anyone gets past the three on the roof, you'll be needed to handle the ground troops."

"Okay; be right back," she responds, and then she leaves.

"What are you going to do, Steve?" Bruce asks.

"I'm going to go get the civilians off the street below. There's a good chance they could be hurt if any debris from the battle falls. I'm not very effective against helicopters, anyway. Be careful," and then he too is out the door, leaving Bruce with Loki and Darcy, waiting for Natasha to return.

She looks determined, but she has a death grip on one of Loki's hands.

Loki, on the other hand, seems raring for a fight. "Why was I not included in these plans?"

Bruce answers carefully, "Steve doesn't know what you can do yet. And if you're seen attacking SHIELD, they could have grounds for charging you with a crime. Steve's just trying to protect you. He doesn't want me, either, remember? Now, come on, let's go get those civilians out of the building. JARVIS, please tell Natasha where we are."

Loki seems to accept this answer, albeit reluctantly. Darcy starts walking towards the elevator, tugging at his hand, and he follows her.

Inside, Bruce quietly asks JARVIS, "Does it impair your assistance of Tony for you to help us as well?"

"No, Dr. Banner, the two are completely separate functions and I can perform both duties concurrently with my usual efficiency."

"Okay, then. Stop the elevator at the first floor we encounter that has civilians on it. Is there any sort of protocol for this? An alarm to raise?"

"Yes, there is."

"Do that then, and we'll check for anyone who hasn't left." This, at least, is familiar, Bruce has assisted in search-and-rescue missions, though usually after the battle has been fought, not before.

JARVIS says, "The alarm has been raised, and employees are leaving the building. The Tower is offices from the twentieth floor down only." Bruce briefly wonders what is on the intervening floors, but he banishes the thought, focusing only on keeping himself in control and managing the situation.

"Is there a basement?"

"Yes, though not accessible to any employees save Ms. Potts."

"Good. Does Natasha have an ETA?"

"She will be at your position in approximately thirty seconds."

The doors slide open, revealing a few stragglers on the nineteenth floor, and then Natasha is emerging through the stairwell doors, one hand on the comm device in her ear.

The four of them exchange a look and prepare to plunge into the fray.

* * *

**Eeep?**


	22. Scenario

**The level of awesome that dysprositos is goes up with every chapter. She's completely wonderful for putting up with my (shitty) attempts at _science!_**

* * *

More thankful now than he's ever been for Loki magicking his armor, Thor speaks the incantation for it as he takes the stairs three and four at a time up to his room to retrieve Mjölnir.

Armored, his hammer in hand, he returns to the staircase. Briefly, he wishes for his helm, left behind in Asgard, before he focuses on the situation at hand.

Bursting through the access door to the roof, he immediately swings Mjölnir and takes to the sky, scanning the horizon for the approaching helicopters.

He spots them coming in on his left, and he gains altitude, knowing that is usually the superior position in an aerial battle. Tony joins him then, and immediately faces the direction of the incoming brigade, as JARVIS had called the group of helicopters.

Tony hovers for a moment and then calls to Thor, his voice slightly tinny as it comes through the suit's external speakers, "I tried to get radio contact with them, but they're not answering. I think it's safe to assume that they're hostile. Hold on, shit, wait. JARVIS?"

The faceplate of the Iron Man suit suddenly retracts, and Tony calls for Thor to come closer.

When he gets within earshot of the speakers inside the suit, Thor hears why.

"—disobeyed my orders. I brought you together, I am responsible for putting you _freaks_ in one place, and this is how you repay me? You tried to get around me with all that legal bullshit, but that fuckery isn't going to fly with me, no fucking way. You're going to _learn_ who's in charge around here. And, newsflash, it's me. I don't care what I have to do or how I do it, but you're going to take orders from me, and only me. After you've learned your lesson, I have _plans_ for you. If the Council thinks they're in control of me, they've got another think coming. I'd like to see them take on the Avengers, the _five _best superheroes in the world—"

Thor isn't sure if he's heard that correctly, because there are _six_ Avengers, and with a sinking feeling in his stomach, he remembers a glass-walled cell, and falling from the Helicarrier, and the look on Fury's face—because that's who is monologuing over the radio, Director Fury—when he explained the mechanics of the _cage_ to Larry.

The cage that had been meant for Bruce.

Thor will be damned if he lets this insane man, with bigger delusions of grandeur than Larry, do harm to his boyfriend.

With that conviction made, he tunes back into Fury's rant, "—we'll do so well together, Avengers, you have no idea. Now, if you meet me with some goddamn humility, I might consider letting you off with a mild punishment, this time. After all, you really didn't know any better, didn't know your place. I'm a very giving man, but sometimes I just get pushed too far. And you won't like it if that happens."

The connection abruptly crackles with static, and Tony yells, "Did anyone else get that? Steve?"

Thor supposes that the others have communication devices, because he can distantly hear Natasha's "Affirmative," Clint's terse "Yup" as he pushes through the door onto the roof, moving to a corner that would offer him the best protection, and Steve's "Damn it, was that _Fury_?"

Tony answers Steve with a grim, "Sure was" and then slides down the faceplate, cutting Thor out of the conversation.

Thor looks down at Clint, who has several quivers of arrows at his feet and his bow at the ready, a thick, black arrowhead on the arrow he holds deceptively loosely in his other hand. The archer notices his gaze and nods deliberately in his direction.

Satisfied that Clint is ready, Thor turns back to Tony, and calls over the wind, "Are there any changes in the plan?"

The blank face of the suit turns to Thor, and Tony's voice comes through the speakers, "Steve says wait until they fire first. That's important. And other than that, he says try to limit activity to as narrow a radius around here as possible—he's clearing the street below and we want to minimize casualties as much as possible."

"I can do that," Thor yells back, and the suit nods jerkily once, and then they both turn to face the oncoming helicopters.

It's another two minutes before the first ones come close enough that individuals in the machines can be identified, and Thor can see the black-clad figure of Director Fury at the controls of the lead 'copter.

He seems to take in the figures of Thor and Iron Man, waiting for him aggressively, and then Thor can clearly _see_ the figure grin maniacally, as if, despite his overtures of non-aggression, he had been wanting a fight.

Thor's suspicion is confirmed when a missile shoots out from the undercarriage of Fury's machine, headed straight for Thor.

It doesn't look very harmful, and Thor allows it to impact his chest, bouncing harmlessly off his armor before he grabs it with his free hand and pitches it toward the water. He can feel the concussive blow a few seconds later, and knows that would have been momentarily debilitating if it had gone off closer to him.

Iron Man suddenly takes off, heading for the first chopper, flying directly at the windshield.

Thor hangs back, thinking that Tony is taking a chance that if Fury is incapacitated, removed from the fight, then his underlings will not care to continue without him.

The windshield of the helicopter shatters as Iron Man flies through it, glass sparkling in the air as it falls, and Tony grabs Fury by his collar with both hands and fires the thrusters on his feet, pulling them both out of the 'copter.

Which, with no pilot, continues to fly straight at Stark Tower. Thor dives down to intercept it, but he cannot hold it and fly at the same time, and he has to let it go, having successfully diverted it from hitting the building.

It begins to fall towards the street, which still contains moving dots that Thor thinks are pedestrians. Suddenly a glittering, green net of magic is suspending it, and then a window on one of the lower levels shatters from the inside, and a figure that Thor recognizes as Bruce leaps out.

Uncaring of the possible battle still overhead, Thor lets free fall take over for a moment before swinging Mjölnir, needing to reorient himself so that he can fly down to do...he doesn't know what. Catch Bruce? the helicopter? His thoughts are a haze of panic and fear, but then he realizes that Bruce is growing, changing. Thor pulls up, swinging Mjölnir so that he can hover, watching, and realizes that he needs to get back up to Tony's level to aid in his part of the fight. But he needs to know that Bruce is okay first.

It's Hulk who lands heavily on the concrete, and then leaps back up the side of the building, pushing off and catching the helicopter, which Thor realizes has begun to fall through a hole in the weakening net, a sign that Loki has overextended himself.

Using his body as a shield, Hulk falls back down to the concrete, creating a second crater but almost gently setting the 'copter down next to it. He doesn't harm any of the few people still around, doesn't even seem to notice them, in fact.

That task accomplished, the green behemoth looks around, confused, and Thor hopes with all his might that Natasha has planned for this contingency, because he doesn't think this is a plan that Bruce, Loki, or Darcy would have come up with on their own.

But Bruce is alright, and Thor has a greater responsibility, so he takes off for roof level at maximum speed.

When he is again visible to Clint, the archer beckons him in, down to the rooftop. Thor doesn't see Iron Man or Fury anywhere, and the other helicopters appear to be retreating.

He lands next to Clint, who quickly explains, "Tony's got Fury inside, and his gamble paid off—the others have gone back to the Helicarrier. What happened down there, with the falling chopper?"

Thor tells him, and Clint exclaims, "Well, shit! Get back down there and contain your boyfriend. Damn fool stunt. What are you still here for? _Go_!"

Running to the edge of the roof, Thor leaps off, letting gravity drag him down for a second in a repeat of his earlier maneuver, Mjölnir raised as he propels himself down to street level.

He sees Hulk curiously pulling at the side of the helicopter, peeling the metal back, but there is no destruction around him, no injured bodies, no debris, nothing at all, really.

Shortly before he will hit the ground, Thor somersaults in the air, flipping so that he will land on his feet. He does, bending his knees to absorb the stress of the impact.

With an idea about how to best handle Hulk, Thor slides Mjölnir into his belt and carefully strides forward, his hands held up to show that he is no threat.

Hulk notices him and stands up to face him, the helicopter forgotten. But he makes no move to attack, and Thor takes that as a good sign.

"Hello, Hulk. Thank you for catching the helicopter. That could have caused some serious damage otherwise. Are you hurt?"

The behemoth extends one hand toward Thor, revealing a scratch across his palm, welling red blood.

Cautiously, Thor steps forward to look at the injury, relaxing when Hulk lets him take his hand without a fight. He inspects the cut carefully, and then sits down, resting Hulk's hand on his lap as he reaches behind himself to tear a strip of fabric from his cape.

The loud ripping noise startles Hulk, who pulls his injured hand back into his chest protectively and looks around frantically.

Soothingly, Thor calls, "Hulk? That was just me." He holds up the fabric, "I was getting some fabric to bandage your hand."

Hulk settles onto the ground facing Thor, mimicking his cross-legged position and holds his hand back out. Then, surprising Thor, he speaks, "Hammer-man."

Thor smiles, careful to not show too many teeth, "Yes, that's me. This might hurt a little, but it's going to make it better, okay?" He's trying to explain things as he goes, knowing that Hulk is intelligent, despite what many think about him.

"Okay," Hulk rumbles back and watches Thor trustingly.

Wrapping the scrap of his cape around the green hand, Thor ties a careful knot over Hulk's palm and then gently pats his wrist when he is finished, "All done now. Is that the only place you're hurt?"

"Yes. Hammer-man hurt?" Hulk asks, and damn, but are Thor and Bruce going to have a conversation later.

"No, I'm not hurt. I didn't do anything, really. You and Tony did it all."

Hulk laughs, seeming to appreciate that. And then he asks, "Metal-man?"

"He's fine, don't worry." Then, because Thor is aware that there's a situation upstairs that needs dealing with, "Um, do you think you're going to be here for very much longer?"

Hulk tips his head to the side, considering, and then shakes his head. But he has something to say, apparently, because he gets a determined look on his face, and reaches out to grab Thor's arm gently. At least, comparatively gently. But it doesn't hurt Thor.

"Banner like hammer-man."

Surprised, Thor replies, "And I like him, too."

"Good," Hulk grunts. "Do not screw up."

This sounds vaguely threatening, but Thor recognizes the sentiment as one that he heard Loki express to Bruce earlier. So it is with a small smile that he answers, "I won't."

Apparently now satisfied, Hulk closes his eyes, and the hand that still rests on Thor's arm begins to shrink.

Bruce's head lolls forward on his shoulders, and Thor very carefully picks up his unconscious boyfriend, mindful to not injure Bruce on his heavy armor, and carries him inside the almost-empty Tower.

* * *

Inside the Tower, JARVIS directs Thor to the penthouse, where he says the others have assembled. Halfway there, in the elevator, Bruce jerks awake and struggles slightly, apparently unaware of his surroundings.

Thor shifts him until they are face to face and speaks softly, telling Bruce that he is safe, that Hulk was a hero, that he hurt nobody, and as far as Thor knows, there were no casualties from the entire battle.

Bruce nods, accepting this, and pulls away from Thor slightly. Thor takes the hint and sets the scientist on his feet, keeping a steadying hand under his elbow.

Seeming to notice the too-large bandage on his hand for the first time, Bruce asks Thor, "What's this?"

"Hulk cut his hand, I think on the helicopter you stopped from hitting the ground. I bandaged it for him."

"You did? Damn, my blood's radioactive! JARVIS, are there decontamination showers in the building?"

"There are several on the R&D levels, Dr. Banner. Do you wish to go there?"

"Yeah. Please. You need to wash off, too, Thor. I don't think it will affect you, but you could have traces of it on your skin and that would be bad for the others."

"Okay, Bruce," Thor complies easily. Bruce seems tired, but this is something he's clearly concerned about.

The doors open, and JARVIS directs them down the hall and to the right, telling them that he will inform the others of the reason for their delay. Bruce leads the way, walking a little unsteadily, but it seems like he is trying to hide his weakness.

Inside an outer chamber, Bruce shucks off what is left of his pants and pulls the piece of Thor's cape from his hand, putting them in a canister marked for disposal.

Bruce turns his head to Thor, trying to keep his torso and lower body facing the other direction, looking him up and down with a critical eye. "What happens to your armor when you take it off?"

"It usually stays where I leave it until I call for it again. Why?"

"Because it might be contaminated, too. You said, 'usually.' What happens _un_usually?"

"I can send it away into a magical pocket of space, I suppose is how I can describe it? Loki is much better with descriptions than I am. Would you like me to do that?"

"Yes, please," Bruce says, turning back to the controls on the wall.

Thor mutters under his breath, and he feels lighter as the armor leaves. He tugs off his easily replaced undergarments and puts them into the same canister where Bruce had put his clothes. He's long since lost any semblance of modesty, ever since an ill-fated hunting trip where their prey attempted to gore him, but only managed in ripping off the lighter armor he wore then. It was after then that he had his current set made, and that Loki had enchanted it. After laughing his ass off at Thor's expense, of course.

Now nude, Thor asks, "Can I bring Mjölnir in with me? I have no other way to...decontaminate it."

Bruce turns back, and his eyes widen. He visibly swallows, and then he says, "Huh? Oh, sure, come on."

Opening the door to the shower, Bruce leads the way in, Thor following with Mjölnir.

It appears to be designed for several people at once, as there are multiple showerheads. As soon as Bruce steps under the far one, it turns on, and Thor follows his example, putting Mjölnir under a showerhead by itself, its weight or his motion activating the sensors and turning it on. He moves to rinse off under a third showerhead.

Bruce doesn't say anything for several minutes, his eyes closed and his head tilted back, his injured palm exposed to the stream of water, and Thor tries not to stare at him, he really does.

But eventually Bruce opens his eyes and meets Thor's stare before clearly appraising Thor's body. Then he bites his lip roughly and closes his eyes again.

It's not the time or place for this, Thor agrees, and he abruptly pulls his gaze away from his boyfriend and closes his eyes in turn.

They pass the rest of their shower in silence, and when the water shuts off, Thor picks up Mjölnir and follows Bruce out a different door than they entered through.

In the antechamber, Bruce tosses Thor a towel and begins to dry himself.

Thankful that Mjölnir cannot tarnish, Thor runs the towel cursorily over it and dries himself off, wrapping the towel around his waist when he is finished.

Bruce has done the same, and he turns to Thor, blushing, "They've got clothes in here, but I'd prefer my own. And I doubt if any would fit you anyway."

"Okay," Thor says, and Bruce turns to go to the stairs, explaining over his shoulder, "Tony's going to need someone to check the elevator and hallway for radiation."

"Pardon me, Dr. Banner, but I have already run scans. The areas are safe for human habitation," JARVIS informs them.

"Thank you, JARVIS," Bruce says, and breathes a sigh of relief.

Thor feels like he should apologize, so he does, "I'm sorry, Bruce, I didn't know."

Bruce stops and turns to face him, meeting his eyes, "Don't say that. You didn't know, you're right. You don't have anything to be sorry for. If this is going to become a regular thing, I guess there's some stuff about me the team should know. Like the radiation thing. That's on me, not you. You had no way to know, and it's my fault for not telling you."

Thor feels a little silly, that two people have called him out on his tendency to blame himself for everything in the same day, and he thinks he blushes. "Okay, Bruce, you're right, but please don't blame yourself either. You did the right thing, and I'm really glad you had enough confidence in yourself to do that. We should talk about the conversation Hulk and I had later."

"Okay, Thor, I think I'd like that. Maybe over dinner?" Bruce asks shyly.

They've reached Thor's floor, and he calls to Bruce, "Of course. Meet you upstairs in a few minutes?"

Bruce's smile is genuine, and he says, "Sure thing," and keeps going up the stairs.

In his bedroom, Thor quickly pulls on some sweatpants and a t-shirt. After a minute of debate, he decides to keep Mjölnir with him, not knowing what's going on with Fury upstairs.

He takes the stairs up to the penthouse two at a time and arrives after Bruce, who is standing with Darcy and Loki across the room from a handcuffed Fury, who looks, well, furious. His angry glare is fixed on Bruce, who is determinedly _not_ looking at the captive. Thor's jaw tightens at the sight.

Steve looms threateningly over the director, and Clint, Natasha, and Tony flank him. Thor moves to join their ranks after looking over Loki and Darcy to see that they are unharmed.

The dark circles under Loki's eyes are visible from across the room, and Thor knows he was correct in his guess that Loki has overextended himself.

Darcy, on the other hand, looks perfectly fine, albeit concerned for Loki. She's got a hip against his leg, and Thor looks closely enough to see that she is supporting some of his weight.

When Thor approaches the others facing Fury, Tony steps back to let Thor take his place. The engineer moves to a tablet lying on a table, and starts to type.

Steve acknowledges Thor with a nod, and tells him quietly, "This was all his idea; he's said that much. Tony's getting Agent Hill on video chat, and we're going to settle this now, once and for all."

Fury spits an expletive at Steve, and Natasha leans over to whisper something in Fury's ear as Clint crosses his arms tightly across his chest.

The director, _well, soon-to-be _former _director_, Thor thinks, blanches and quiets, and Natasha steps back, satisfied.

Tony says, "Hill," tightly and they turn their attention to the projection of her on the wall.

"Avengers. I would like to apologize for Fury's actions; he was acting without SHIELD approval or the Council's knowledge."

"We gathered that," Tony tells her. "Kind of sounded like he was planning to use us to take over the Council."

Her face darkens. "Do you have any proof of this, Mr. Stark?"

"I do. Shall I send you the transmission?" Tony sounds different than he usually does, older, more mature. Thor realizes that a life such as his, where cameras and people follow the engineer's every move, must mean that Tony has extensive experience with handling other people.

"Yes, please. The Council will be most interested in this."

Tony nods and ducks his head down over his tablet to send her the recording, Thor supposes.

Steve steps around Clint to address Hill directly. "What is going to happen to him?"

"We have a Quinjet in route to your location, and I assure you that he will be dealt with most severely."

"That's not what I meant. Is he going to keep his position with SHIELD?" Steve asks. Thor realizes that the conclusion he had come to, that Fury would automatically lose his position, is not a guarantee. His hand clenches tighter on Mjölnir's handle as a reflex.

"No, he is not. SHIELD will have a new director, and, I think, a new purpose. Clearly our days of hiding are over after this display."

Steve makes eye contact with Natasha, and when she nods, he tells Hill, "You have our support for the position of director. However, we will need to set some guidelines."

She looks, frankly, surprised, but when she speaks, her voice is steady, "Thank you. And we will do our best, within reason, of course."

"Of course."

"The Quinjet's ETA is thirteen minutes, and Mr. Stark, I have just received your transmission."

Tony sets the tablet aside and steps back. "Good. You said something about a new purpose for SHIELD. If you're planning on 'coming out,'" his hands frame air quotes around the words, "let me know. I know some good PR people."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark. We'll take that under consideration." She looks at Steve directly, "Is that all?"

"Yes."

"Thank you for your assistance in this embarrassing manner." That sounds a little too scripted to be a real apology, in Thor's opinion (because he _knows_ formal apologies well—part of causing more problems than he should have in his youth), but Steve nods and motions to Tony to cut the connection.

For a moment, silence reigns. Then Steve says, "Let's get him to the roof. Bruce, Thor, are you two okay?"

"We're fine," Bruce answers for the both of them. "But I'd rather not come outside, if that's okay with you."

"Whatever you need. Thank you, Bruce."

"You're welcome." Bruce seems to sag, and Darcy takes his arm, holding up Loki on her other side, moving to assist the two of them to a seat.

Thor follows Steve, Clint, and Natasha to the roof, Tony bringing up the rear, one hand slipped into a gauntlet.

The Quinjet lands a few minutes later, and a battalion of agents surrounds Fury. Natasha hands over a set of guns, presumably the ex-director's, and the agents propel Fury up into their transport.

As they take off from the roof, Steve visibly slumps. "Let's go inside."

Back inside, Thor settles onto the floor next to the couch that houses Bruce, Darcy, and Loki, and the others scatter themselves around the room on various pieces of furniture.

"Good job, team," Steve says.

Tony turns on the TV, and they watch the report of the almost-battle. When the news reporter says that there were no casualties, they all cheer, albeit tiredly, and Tony flips the TV off.

He tells the others, "I've got my people doing press for now, but we're going to need to get out there soon. See what SHIELD's doing and if it's reasonable go along with it."

"Not now," Steve interrupts.

"Fair enough. Pizza, anyone?" Tony offers.

A resounding chorus of 'yeses' answers his question, and Tony prompts JARVIS to make the order.

Nobody seems inclined to move at the moment, and Thor rests his head against Bruce's knee to wait for their food to arrive.

* * *

**Writing monologues is like, so goddamn fun. Um, thoughts, anybody?**


	23. As the Dust Settles

**dysprositos continues her amazing-ness by assisting me with characterization this go-round. She's the best.**

* * *

Tired, Bruce reaches out to card a hand through Thor's loose hair as the demigod rests his head on Bruce's knee.

Tony's re-ordered pizza, and Bruce is _starving_. Hulk-ing out tends to do that to him—it's something that he's going to need to tell the others.

Being on the run had gotten him used to surviving with little food, and pushing on when he came to post Hulk-out despite needing the fuel. But he's been back in civilization long enough to get spoiled, to _need_ food right now, and he desperately attempts to distract himself from his rumbling stomach.

At his side, Darcy shifts, curling into a ball on the couch between Loki and himself sleepily. She mumbles to no one in particular, "Wake me up when the pizza's here, mhm?"

Bruce moves a little so that she has more room and answers, "Okay, Darce."

Across from him, Natasha watches their interaction, and Bruce arches a lazy eyebrow at her, too tired for much else, wondering what her interest in the situation is.

She explains, "You two are...interesting. I've always thought it was fascinating, how being on the run together can force two people together. Creates a strong bond."

"You gonna tell _that_ story again, Nat?" Clint asks from his position sprawled across the floor, arms and legs akimbo.

"What? It's not like we've got anything better to do."

Clint lifts a hand off the floor so that he can flap it around, signaling his acquiescence, and Steve positions himself so that he can see Natasha better, clearly interested.

Interested as well, Bruce's hand stills in Thor's hair, and the demigod makes a discontented sound in his throat and pushes his head back against Bruce's hand.

Bruce starts his motions again, and Thor rests more of his weight on Bruce's leg in response.

Natasha says, "Thank you for your generous permission, Clint."

"S'not a problem, Tasha."

"Shut up, moron," she replies fondly. "Anyway, I was talking about how this dumbass and I met. I'd gotten on SHIELD's radar in a bad way. I had been...released from the Red Room program, and I was working as an assassin for hire. No morals; I didn't care _who_ I killed."

Clint breaks in, "_Boring_, Nat, get to the good shit already!"

"By 'good shit,' you of course mean your involvement."

"Duh."

"As I _was_ saying," she continues, more somber than her joking tone, "I had become a one-woman trail of destruction in Europe, and SHIELD couldn't have that. So they sent their young wunderkind, this archer they'd pulled out of the circus and off the streets, constantly one disciplinary report away from disaster, to...eliminate me."

Her voice breaks, and Clint sits up, reaching out to rest a hand on her leg comfortingly. He continues with the story, "They wanted Tasha dead, and I was ready to prove myself. I found her, this kid. She didn't seem nearly as deadly as they said she was, she just looked like a regular young woman, ya know? But orders were orders, and," now _his_ voice breaks, "Coulson said he couldn't help me much longer if I kept fucking up, so I was ready to do what SHIELD wanted. I didn't think I could go at it alone again."

Natasha reaches down to intertwine her fingers with his, carrying on with the thread of the story, "What he didn't know was that I _knew_ he was there, knew _why_ he had been sent. And I was ready. I couldn't _stand _that life any more; I was killing part of myself with every life I took, no matter how deserved it was. So I set it up, let him get a clear shot at me. I put my gun down, and waited to die."

"But I'd been having doubts," Clint interrupts again, his hand flexing in Natasha's. "And when she did _that_, put her gun down and looked straight at me, through me, like she wasn't even there anymore, I _knew_ I couldn't kill her. I went down and talked to her instead, and she was really suspicious, but she came with me."

Squeezing his hand tightly and then letting it go, standing up to walk over by the window, Natasha finishes, "I went. And we had to go into hiding, staying in shitty motel room after room, waiting until Clint was sure he could bring me in without them killing me. I thought I'd been broken, that I could never trust anyone ever again, but he proved me wrong. And Coulson finally did something, I still don't know what, but we got the okay for me to come in. Clint stayed with me, through all the interrogations, all the deprogramming. All the torture to undo the torture that had been done to me in the past. And when it was done, when I went outside as a free woman for the first time, he was still there. And for some reason, he's still here. That's why I'm interested in you and Darcy, Bruce. Because I've lived that."

"...Oh." Bruce doesn't know what to say, not in the face of that story.

In a show of vulnerability that Bruce can hardly believe, Natasha wraps her arms around herself, and Clint starts to struggle to his feet to go to her. Tony, who has been uncharacteristically quiet, gets there first, though.

He says something quietly to Natasha, and then she lets him lead her back to her seat on the couch, and he perches on the arm next to her.

Steve looks like he thinks he _should_ say something, but he doesn't know quite what. After a minute of opening and closing his mouth helplessly, he tries, "I'm sorry, Natasha, Clint. I think we've all got a lot to share in the next few days."

Bruce decides to help their team leader out, "I think so too. I know I've got some things everyone should know."

Thor nods his agreement, and it looks like Steve's going to say something else, but JARVIS smoothly interrupts, "Ladies, gentlemen, your dinner is here. Mr. Stark, you need to go pay the delivery boy."

"Fuck, JARVIS, I know. Damn it, thank you," Tony stumbles over his answer, but gets up and leaves the room anyway.

Steve starts to lever himself up with a hand on the couch for support, but Loki speaks, "I'll go get whatever you're after, Steve. You're very tired." He shifts Darcy's head off his shoulder, where she has fallen asleep, and Bruce reaches over to help him lay her down more comfortably in the space Loki is vacating.

Then he puts his hand back on Thor's head, and the demigod, who had been shifting like he might get up, relaxes.

Steve looks surprised, but he settles back down. "I was just going to get plates and drinks."

Loki nods and turns for the kitchen, but Natasha calls, "Just get paper towels or something, please. That way nobody has to wash the dishes."

Turning back around to smile hesitantly at her, Loki responds, "That's a good idea...Natasha."

"Thanks, Loki."

Loki nods again and walks into the kitchen. Bruce is a little surprised that Thor hasn't made a move to get up and help his brother beyond shifting a little, but he realizes that maybe Thor sees that Loki is obviously making an effort to make friends on the team, and Thor doesn't want to get in the way of that.

Bruce would never say anything of the sort to Thor because he doubts the demigod would see it like this, but he thinks that Thor may be a little too overprotective of his younger brother. He understands that this is only natural after what Loki's gone through, but Bruce thinks that Loki needs to learn to heal, to support himself, and Thor's hovering may not be the most beneficial for that. But Thor seems to be understanding that now, and maybe that will make things better, both for Loki, and for Thor's concerns about his relationship with Bruce.

Tony comes back, staggering under a pile of pizza boxes. He deposits them on a table, looking around for Loki, who returns with the roll of paper towels and a multitude of drinks under an arm.

Thor shifts off Bruce's leg to get his food, and Bruce leans over to gently wake Darcy.

She sits up, blinking sleepily, and then smiles when Loki passes her a drink and two slices of pizza.

Nobody really talks again, too tired and hungry to be polite. But when they all get up stiffly to throw their trash away and stumble to a bed, Bruce notices that nobody goes off alone.

Loki has an arm around Darcy, who looks on the verge of unconsciousness. Bruce knows that the two of them won't both be able to fit comfortably in Loki's small bed, so he grabs Thor's hand, intending to take the older demigod to his room so that Darcy can sleep in Thor's bed comfortably but still be near Loki.

Thor doesn't put up a fight at all, and as Bruce pulls the covers of his bed back, Thor crawls under, setting Mjölnir to the side and then wrapping an arm around Bruce, who doesn't mind.

He doesn't mind one bit, actually.

* * *

The next morning, Bruce wakes up a little unsure of where he is and why there's a large warm arm draped over his waist. It doesn't take long to remember, though, and he decides that it's not worth getting out of bed yet.

When Thor stirs a moment later and pulls Bruce in tighter, he seems to share the sentiment.

They lie in a companionable silence until Bruce rolls over and props up on an elbow, his actions more bold than they'd seemed in his head.

Thor smiles up at him, "Good morning."

That seems to be a cue, because JARVIS cuts in, "Good morning, Dr. Banner, Master Thor. Captain Rogers has asked me to let everyone know that he's calling a team meeting at eleven."

"What time's it?" Bruce asks in response.

"Nine-thirty, Dr. Banner."

"Huh." That's the longest Bruce has slept in awhile, even post Hulk-ing out. "Well, I guess we'd better get up, then."

Thor tugs Bruce up so that he can hide his face in his neck, which seems a little more childish than Bruce has ever seen Thor act. But it's endearing and Bruce understands not wanting to get up and face the world quite yet, so he indulges the demigod for a few moments before pulling away.

Despite Thor's clearly superior strength, the second Bruce draws back, Thor's grip slackens. It's something that would have bothered Bruce if Thor hadn't, that little edge of paranoia settling back in under his skin.

But that's something Thor seems to instinctively understand about Bruce, and that's good. Really good.

After Bruce gets out of bed, Thor sits up and stretches, and then he stands up and makes the rumpled bed.

Bruce pokes his head out of the bathroom, toothbrush in his mouth, to offer Thor a spare toothbrush from the cabinet.

After they've finished, Thor bends down and presses his lips to Bruce's, his arms winding around the smaller man. Bruce tangles a hand in Thor's hair and kisses back.

They break apart after a few minutes, breathing hard, and Thor offers, "Dinner tonight? We can go out somewhere quiet, just you and me."

Bruce smiles. "Yeah, I'd like that. A lot."

That settled, they go down to the communal kitchen, where Darcy and Tony sit side-by-side, slumped over cups of coffee. Loki and Steve are cooperating over the stove, Steve's issues with Loki seemingly resolved. Clint and Natasha aren't in the room, but they come in a few minutes later, playfully shoving at each other as they try to walk through the doorway at the same time.

Steve turns around to address everyone, but Clint leaps across the room to stick a hand firmly across the supersoldier's mouth, admonishing him, "You said no business until eleven, and you're not going to go back on that. Okay?"

Nodding, Steve agrees, and Clint releases him, reaching around the supersoldier to snag a piece of bacon off the plate at his side, going over to sit on a chair at the table.

Bruce slides in next to Darcy, who lifts her head enough to smile at him before dropping it back to the table.

They manage breakfast without any "business," as Clint had called it. Steve talks baseball with Clint and Natasha (who seems to know a lot about the game, which is surprising, considering Bruce would have thought her thing was more contact sports...violent ones), and Tony contributes when he finally wakes up enough to be coherent.

Loki and Thor listen to the conversation with interest, and Darcy, after her second cup of coffee, shares an eye roll with Bruce.

After breakfast, everyone except Tony tries to volunteer to wash the dishes, and they almost start a fight over who does it until Darcy points out, "_Tony_'s not volunteering. Doesn't that mean he does it automatically?"

Clint agrees with her, and Tony is pressed into service, although he demands Darcy's help for ratting him out in the first place. But she agrees easily enough, and the rest of the group waits at the table while the two work, flicking water at each other, and Darcy even hits Tony with the dish towel when he doesn't move fast enough for her tastes.

Then Steve leads them down the hall to what must be a formal dining room, and takes a seat at the head of the table. The symbolism is lost on nobody, and the mood shifts from jovial to solemn in just a moment.

Darcy seems like she feels a little out of place, but Bruce lets go of Thor's hand to pull her into the chair next to his, and Loki sits at the foot of the table, next to her, before Tony can claim that seat.

Thor glances over to see what's gotten Bruce's attention, but he shrugs easily, and puts his hands in his lap instead, while Bruce puts one of his on Darcy's arm. She rests a hand on top of his, and the gesture seems to reassure her.

Everyone looks at Steve, who takes a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking.

"Well, first of all, everybody did well yesterday. Good job, team."

Tony snorts derisively but shuts up when Natasha, sitting next to him, fixes him with a glare.

Steve continues as if there had been no interruption, "I'm glad we were all able to pull together and work cohesively as a unit. But I still have a few things I want to talk about. Natasha, I know you didn't like your assignment, and I'm sorry to have been the one to send you to do something that you didn't like."

Natasha raises one shoulder in a delicate shrug, and says, "No big deal, Steve. Not the first assignment I didn't like."

"Well, I just wanted to apologize anyway. Tony, you took a chance, targeting Fury like that. I know that's your style, to act first and think about the consequences later, and that could have ended very badly. And I want you to try and work on that—trusting us to back you up." Steve bites his lip but adds the next part anyway, "Trusting _me_ to give the right orders."

Something flashes in Tony's eyes, but he calms and just offers Steve a tight nod instead of whatever he had been going to say.

That settled, Steve cracks a grin, "But it paid off, so good work."

"I don't need to be praised like a fucking three-year-old," Tony retorts, his face also softening into a smile, but Natasha elbows him in the ribs and he adds, "But thanks, Gramps."

Steve rolls his eyes but otherwise lets that go. "Loki. Thank you for your interference with the helicopter. That could have gotten nasty without you. When you've fully recovered, I'd like to offer you a place on the team."

"Is that your call to make?" Loki asks curiously.

"It's damn well going to be. I'm not taking orders from SHIELD, not after this fiasco. But that's something we can talk about later. What do you say?"

"I'd be stupid to say 'no,'" Loki responds, but he smiles shyly and Thor beams at him.

"Good. We'll be glad to have you. Now. Exactly _who_ had the idea to unleash the Hulk in the middle of the city?"

Bruce hunches into himself slightly. Steve doesn't _sound_ mad, but experiences have proven that doesn't mean much. Especially not in conversations about the Other Guy.

Natasha says, "Bruce suggested it, and I okayed it. We needed the help; Loki was slipping pretty badly." She fixes Steve with a glare that Bruce would hate to be on the receiving end of; he doesn't know _what_ he's done to get on her good side, but whatever it is, he's glad to have done it.

Steve, to his credit, doesn't show that he's intimidated by Natasha (but if he isn't, Bruce doesn't know if he's human). But then Steve surprises Bruce, "Good. I wanted to make sure that no one had pressured Bruce into anything. I think you made the right choice, Bruce."

Shocked, Bruce meets Steve's eyes. The supersoldier looks determined, but it's the good kind, Bruce thinks, the kind that means he wants to get over their rough beginning and be friends. Bruce wants that, too.

"Um, thank you?" Despite himself, his voice still turns up at the end, making it into a question. Under the table, Thor puts a hand on his knee, squeezing gently. The reminder that Bruce isn't alone in this is extremely welcome, and he offers Thor a quick, personal smile.

"You're welcome. But, I did hear about something that I didn't like. Thor, when you saw Bruce jump out the window, you abandoned your assignment to go and check on him, didn't you?"

"Yes," Thor answers shortly, compressing his lips into a tight line.

"I understand your concern, but you can't do that. You've got to trust that he can take care of himself in battle. It's hard. I know. I was constantly looking over my shoulder the first few times the Commandos and I went out."

He's got the whole room pretty much captivated, so much so that even Tony doesn't make the obvious joke there.

"But I got myself hurt doing that, and...Bucky and some of the other guys pulled me aside and told me real quiet that I needed to quit or I was going to get my 'damn fool head shot off' and they were going to laugh at my funeral because I'd've 'been such an idiot to get myself killed.' So I know. And you two are still new, I get that, but it can't happen again."

Thor had seemed angry, but after Steve's explanation, he's softened. Bruce slips a hand under the one on his leg, curling their fingers together, his turn to be the supporting partner, and Thor tells Steve, "I know I messed up."

"Okay. That's really all I wanted to say about that. Now, SHIELD says they're going to be making changes, and I sincerely hope that they do. But I want us to be independent. We'll still work with SHIELD, but we need to be our own entity."

"I can help with that," Tony says. "Got a whole team of lawyers on retainer, and Stark Industries will be _thrilled _to back you."

"Thank you. We can work on that more later. Let's see what SHIELD does first. And I think that's almost everything really, just... I want us to have some practice working together as a team, especially once Loki can join in."

"I can practice now, as long as it isn't too tiring," Loki volunteers.

"And I've got some pretty empty land upstate, nobody for miles," Tony offers.

"Sounds good, but not today, I don't think. We deserve a rest. Any questions?" Steve says.

Darcy raises her hand, "Yes, I have one. _Why_ am I here? I'm not a superhero. I'm just...me."

"Because you're a part of the team nonetheless, Ms. Lewis."

"Darcy," she insists.

"Darcy. And I have a feeling we could use someone like you around."

"To do what? I'm not even out of college yet, and the only reason I'm here was the fact that I had an internship with Jane."

Bruce wants to correct her assumptions, but he wants to see how Steve reacts to this more. He stays quiet.

"I'm sorry, Darcy, but you're wrong. You've made friends on this team, and that seems damn hard to do, no offense. And you're the kind of person who doesn't take anyone's attitude. We're going to need that kind of person around if, no, when, we break away from SHIELD. God knows I don't have any experience dealing with the public, and it's not fair that we put that all on Tony."

"So you're offering me a job?"

"Yeah. And we can even get you some spandex if you want," Steve jokes. "Maybe your own superhero name."

"Hell no. Just Darcy is fine. But I think I'd like that. I want my degree first, though."

"That can be arranged," Tony volunteers, whipping out his phone.

Darcy sighs, "No, legally, dipshit."

Natasha says, "You told me you were only about a semester away from graduating. That shouldn't be too hard to finish."

Steve nods to her, "Yes. Thank you, Natasha. Is that okay, Darcy?"

She smiles slowly, but a big smile, one that takes over her whole face. "Yeah. That's more than okay."

"Okay, then, I guess that's it? Unless anyone has anything else to say?"

After a moment of silence, Steve concludes the meeting, "Okay, then. I'm going to go look at what's going on outside, and see if I can get a hold of SHIELD. I'd appreciate some help."

Bruce doesn't think he can be of much help doing that, but Darcy pushes up, probably wanting to prove that she is up to this, and goes to stand on the opposite side of Steve from Tony, who has also gotten up to volunteer his services.

Clint leads the others out the door, saying, "Come on, useless people. Let's go be useless where we won't get in the way."

Thor and Bruce, still holding hands, follow him, as does Loki. Natasha apparently has opted to stay, and she joins the other three in an intense discussion.

Darcy's flailing her hands about, making her point, and Bruce thinks this will be good for her. She could do with some more self-confidence.

When they've followed Clint down the hall, Thor gives Bruce's hand a squeeze and releases him to take Loki off for a discussion.

This leaves Bruce alone with Clint, and they stare at each other for a moment in a general air of 'we've never had a real conversation before—what do we do?' before Clint offers, "Video games?"

Bruce says, "I doubt you have any that I'm familiar with, but sure, if you don't mind giving me a tutorial."

"Nah, s'not a problem."

Indeed, they don't have any systems that Bruce recognizes beyond maybe having seen an ad here or there, but Clint's a good teacher, patient, and Bruce is soon playing Mario Kart and relaxing enough to holler insults back and forth with the archer.

He even wins the odd round, and overall, it's a good way to pass a couple hours.

* * *

**For anyone who's interested, Natasha and Clint's story has been expanded into a oneshot, "We'll Always Have Paris."**

**Reviews, anyone?**


	24. Acceptance

**dysprositos is the best beta ever. And she puts up with my asinine need for a certain word count.**

**WARNING: mention of canonical suicide attempt.**

* * *

Clint and Bruce finish up a round on their video game, and Clint stretches, his stomach rumbling audibly. Smiling, Bruce suggests that they make lunch and drag the others in to eat. Bruce has to almost pry Darcy away from where she's working, but he eventually manages to divert her attention to food when she realizes she _is_ hungry.

After they've eaten, Clint says he's going to the range and offers to take Bruce down and give him a few pointers, saying that Natasha has suggested that everyone learn some basic weaponry. Bruce checks on Thor, but he and Loki have had their heads bent together all through lunch, and Bruce doubts he'll be missed. Besides, he doesn't want to be so co-dependent.

He accepts Clint's invitation happily, and again, Clint's a patient teacher.

Handguns aren't Hawkeye's favored weapon, of course, but he's still an expert with them, and he and Bruce take turns shooting at the target.

Bruce has some familiarity with guns; one had been his near constant companion when he was traveling. His line "You won't like me when I'm angry" wasn't enough to deter some would-be thieves, but brandishing his old revolver, scavenged from a yard in Brazil, usually worked.

He'd only ever fired it once, though. In the Arctic.

But Clint's Glock is nothing like that gun, and it is almost fun to work with. Clint looks silly with his protective ear-wear, and Bruce knows he must as well. But it's a kind of mutual embarrassment, the kind that would be bothersome if it was just Bruce, but because there's a partner in ridiculousness, it's okay.

They spend several hours in the booth, not speaking except when Clint offers Bruce some pointers. And when Bruce's arms start to hurt, the kind of deep muscle ache that he knows he'll be feeling for a few days, he asks if Clint would show him how he uses his bow.

If the grin on Clint's face is any indication, Bruce has asked exactly the right question. Clint quickly, efficiently, picks up their debris from the ammunition boxes and packs the gun away.

Then he retrieves a case from the far wall of the room, lovingly running a hand over it before setting it on a bench and shaking it out with a snap, popping the compact bow out into its proper form.

He picks up a quiver of practice arrows and hooks it onto his belt, moving away from the bench and to an area of marked ground in front of a target that looks well-used, with a clear set of puncture marks on the center of the target.

Clint directs Bruce to stand off to the side, out of his way, and explains, "Nat likes to shoot at human-shaped targets, but there's just something comfortable about an old-fashioned target."

"That makes sense; the bow is a pretty traditional weapon," Bruce replies with what is about the extent of his archery knowledge.

After he warms up, Clint does some trick shots for Bruce, who applauds and praises Clint's talent. Sometimes it's the little things, like letting Clint get comfortable in his element, that can make two acquaintances become friends.

Clint's in the middle of setting up for a shot that requires some sort of contortion when the door chimes and Clint immediately but slowly lets the tension in the bowstring go slack so that he doesn't hurt himself or the bow itself.

He hollers, "Come on in!"

Darcy bustles in, over to where Bruce is leaning against the wall. She takes his arm and starts pulling him towards the door, towing him along, surprised, in her wake.

She calls a goodbye to Clint, who's watching her with a look that Bruce can't quite decipher on his face. Bruce thinks maybe he's surprised at her boldness. Or perhaps Bruce's easy acquiescence. Or maybe it's not that at all. Bruce doesn't really know, doesn't know Clint well enough to guess what might be going through his mind.

"Sorry to take your playmate away, birdboy, but he's got a hot date tonight, and he needs to get ready."

"That's okay; I was running out of tricks to show him anyway," Clint responds jokingly. And then more seriously, "You have fun, Bruce, you hear?"

"I will," Bruce says, and is surprised to realize that he _means_ that. He will enjoy himself with Thor, and he's really looking forward to it, as a matter of fact.

He can feel that he's smiling, and he watches Darcy take him in, releasing his arm to hit the button for the elevator. She seems happy to see him happy.

"Okay, doc, are you ready for this?"

"You make it sound like I should be worried. So _do_ I need to be worried?"

She pretends to consider that seriously for a moment. "Nah, I don't think so. You know where you're going?"

"...No. We hadn't really discussed that."

"Seriously, Bruce?" Her exasperation is exaggerated. "How the hell am I supposed to dress you if I don't know where you're going?"

"Um, Darcy, I'm in my forties. I'm pretty sure I can dress myself by now." At least, he's always assumed so. He glances down at his attire, suddenly self-conscious.

"But not for a date!" Darcy insists, also casting a critical eye over Bruce's outfit.

"You know, I _have_ been on dates before." Bruce informs her, shrugging to shake off his momentary awkwardness. For chrissakes, he _is_ a grown man, and he can damn well dress himself. "I used to have a steady girlfriend, and we were even talking about marriage a little."

"Okay, fine, you win." She holds her hands up in a gesture of surrender before morphing that into an accusing finger jammed into his chest. "But I have veto power."

"Yes, ma'am. I guess I should find out where we're going, though."

"Yup." She hits the button for the floor that she shares with Thor and Loki when the doors slide open on their original destination, Bruce's floor.

They ride up in companionable silence, and when they exit the elevator, Darcy slumps against the wall next to it, balancing on one foot, the other a couple inches held off the ground. "I'll wait here."

"Okay." Bruce walks down to the door of Thor and Loki's bedroom and knocks.

After a moment, Thor calls for him to come in, and Bruce does.

The brothers are sitting on their own beds with several of the Asgardian books spread out around them and a holographic list of something? spells, maybe, going in the space between the beds. The bathroom door hangs open and Bruce can see icy trails across the mirror.

He supposes they've been working on Loki's magic.

Thor stands up, careful to not knock anything off the bed, and comes over to hug Bruce, who reciprocates, leaning into Thor for a moment.

Pulling back, he looks up at Thor's face, "Hey, Darcy says I need to get ready for tonight, but I wasn't sure where we were going. And I kinda need to know so I know what to wear..."

"Honestly," Thor answers slowly, "I hadn't thought that much about it. I don't know much about New York. Maybe we should ask one of the others?"

Bruce is about to say that Thor's suggestion sounds like a good idea, but JARVIS speaks first, "If I may make a suggestion, Dr. Banner, Master Thor?"

"Certainly," Bruce responds for them after a moment.

"You may enjoy a Thai restaurant a few blocks from here. Mr. Stark says they make good food, but they are not well-known."

"That sounds good, thank you, JARVIS. What do you think, Thor?"

"I haven't eaten Thai food yet, and I would enjoy trying it. Do we need reservations, JARVIS?"

Bruce realizes that Thor must have been out to dinner before, and that's kind of...nice. That he's not going to have to be the one managing all the details of their date. He likes to know what's going on in his surroundings, sure, but he's never really liked micromanaging everything.

"No, Master Thor, you do not. And the restaurant is within walking distance, if you'd like."

"Thanks, JARVIS," Thor says, and then asks Bruce, "Do you want to walk there?"

"Sure. When do you want to leave?"

"How about at six fifteen?" Thor suggests.

"Sounds good. I'm looking forward to it."

"So am I."

"Okay, then, I'll get out of your way. I'm glad to see you're doing better, Loki."

"Thank you," Loki replies, barely looking up from the book he'd been attempting to absorb. The way he's got it spread out over his hands, it looks like he's going for diffusion of the information.

"See you in a little while, Bruce."

In lieu of an answer, Bruce smiles and turns to leave, closing the door gently behind him.

Darcy pushes off the wall when he gets to where she's resting, and he hits the button for the elevator and then answers her silent question, "We're going to a Thai place near here that JARVIS suggested."

"Ooh, Thai is good. Okay, then, you'll want to be pretty casual, I guess."

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

In his room, Bruce goes over to his small wardrobe and digs out a pair of khakis and the blue polo he'd bought at Walmart.

Darcy looks his choices over and huffs. But she gives him a thumbs up and pulls the still new-in-box pair of brown loafers Tony had bought him out of the closet.

He nods his acceptance of those and takes the clothing into the bathroom with him so that he can shower. He doesn't bother telling Darcy to make herself at home because he knows that she will.

After he's showered and dressed, he opens the door so that he can talk with Darcy, who has sprawled out across his bed and is apparently chatting with JARVIS.

He's preparing to shave, filling up the sink and getting out the razor when she notices what he's doing and stops him.

Darcy assures him that the scruff on his face is good and after she threatens him with bad, bad things (her words, not his) if he shaves, Bruce drains the sink and goes out to check the time.

He's got about thirty minutes to kill, still, and he asks Darcy what she wants to do to pass the time. She tosses him his cell phone, pilfered from a drawer probably—he hasn't seen it since before he left for Canada—and suggests that they go see what the others are up to.

They find Natasha, Clint, and Tony in the engineer's workshop, sprawled out over various pieces of furniture. Clint's practically upside down, even.

Tony asks Bruce about a problem he's encountered in some software, and although that's not Bruce's area of expertise, he sets his jacket off to the side, rolls up his sleeves, and reads over Tony's shoulder, making a couple suggestions.

But he's very aware of the time, and at 6:10 he picks up his discarded jacket and says goodbye, explaining that he's going out.

Tony tells him with an exaggerated wink, "Have a good time, but don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Bruce rolls his eyes, not dignifying that with an answer (besides, was there_ anything_ Tony wouldn't do?), and leaves, going downstairs to wait in the 67th floor living room, asking JARVIS to let Thor know where he is.

A moment later, Thor and Loki come through the stairwell door and walk over to where Bruce has been waiting.

Loki reaches out to clasp Bruce's shoulder briefly and tells him, "Have a nice evening."

"Thanks, Loki. Um, pretty much everybody else is in Tony's lab, if you wanted some company." He knows Loki's been trying to fit in, trying to get to know the others, but he doesn't want to be overbearing about it—that's something he'd hate if someone did it to him.

"I do, thank you." Loki elbows Thor and leaves.

"Are you ready?" Thor asks. "I got directions from JARVIS."

"I am."

Bruce reaches out for Thor's hand, and the demigod gives his a light squeeze as they step into the elevator.

When they walk through the front entrance of the Tower, Bruce can feel Thor's grip loosen, like he expects Bruce to pull away now that they're outside. But Bruce has no intention of doing so, and he wraps his fingers more tightly around Thor's.

They walk for about a block and a half quietly, just enjoying the other's company.

Then Bruce gathers up his courage and begins, "You said you and Hulk had a conversation?"

"Yes, we did. Do you know what happened after you jumped out the window?" Thor would really like to tell Bruce _exactly_ what he thinks about his boyfriend leaping out windows, but he knows that dating another member of a superhero team naturally lends itself to risks. Such as jumping out windows. And besides, Bruce probably wouldn't appreciate Thor bossing him around. He's a grown man, after all.

"Um, well, I jumped out and started changing. And I know I caught the helicopter. There's flashes, too, something about playing with the 'spinny bird?' And a little bit of you."

Thor laughs at Hulk's phrasing. "Yeah, Hulk caught the helicopter and I left for a moment, but when I came back, he hadn't moved, just started picking it apart. That's how he cut his hand, I believe."

Bruce can't really believe he's about to say this—doing so would have been inconceivable only a few days ago—but it's true. "You know, you can say 'you.' I recognize that Hulk and I are the same person. Just...different pigmentation. And size."

Thor gives Bruce a long look at that, inscrutable, but if he realizes the magnitude of what Bruce has said, he doesn't comment on it. Instead, he continues, "When I approached and asked if you were okay, you gave me your hand to look at. I ripped my cape to bandage your injury, and that startled you."

That doesn't really surprise Bruce. He's never liked loud noises, and under stressful situations they become harder to tolerate. That this personality trait manifests itself in Hulk is interesting, but hardly startling.

Thor seems to be waiting for him to continue, looking at the street signs to make sure they're still going the right way, so Bruce inquires, "What happened then?"

"Well, you spoke to me. You call me 'hammer-man,' did you know that?"

When Bruce thinks for a moment about the flashes of Thor that he remembers, he can practically feel the possessiveness that accompanies the memories, which do carry the distinct stamp of 'hammer-man,' along with faint bemusement.

"I can remember that," Bruce says wonderingly, and Thor uses their linked hands to prompt the scientist to turn the corner.

"I told you what I was going to do with your hand, and you said it was okay. When I was finished, you asked if _I_ was hurt, and you seemed pretty concerned, actually."

"Huh." That's more of Bruce's personality bleeding over, then, and he wonders if the lines work both ways. With a moment to think about it, he _knows_ that they do. His _anger_ has been so much easier to tap, indeed many emotions (fear, sadness, lust, just to name a few) have operated on a much easier trigger since the accident.

When he blinks a couple times to bring himself out of his thoughts, he realizes that they've stopped walking and Thor is watching him expectantly.

"Sorry, just realized something there." And then, answering the unasked question, he says, "I'm okay. Really. This has been happening a lot. Just ask Darce."

"As long as it's nothing bad," Thor seems concerned, and _that's nice_, Bruce thinks.

"I'll tell you about it later; I want to hear about him right now." Bruce doesn't want to say 'Hulk,' not here on this crowded street when they are trying to have a quiet night, not deal with being _Thor_ and _Hulk_.

Thankfully, Thor seems to take the hint, continuing, "I told you that I hadn't done anything, that you and Tony had done it all, and you asked about Tony, well, 'metal-man.'"

Bruce snorts at that, and Thor pauses a moment, but when it's clear Bruce isn't going to say anything else, he picks up, "And I asked you if you were going to be there much longer because I didn't know what was going on with Fury. You almost changed back right there, but you stopped for a moment, and, uh, threatened me. If I hurt you, that is."

Thor's bashfulness is endearing, and after being on the receiving end of a threat from the closest thing Thor has to Hulk, his brother, Bruce isn't bothered. He's intrigued, actually. He knew Hulk protected him, yeah, but he'd never had this kind of unequivocal evidence that his alter ego was watching out for him.

Rushing through his words a little, Thor finishes, "And then you closed your eyes and shrunk, and I carried you into the building. You woke up a minute later."

Bruce can't resist teasing, "I did?"

"Yes, you did." Thor smiles, "Remember, I have a little brother. There is little you can do that I haven't seen before. Oh, I believe that's it!" He points to a building in a dark corner on the other side of the street.

They cross carefully, and are seated soon after they walk in. Nobody seems to recognize Thor, dressed in casual clothes with his hair tied up, and Bruce is grateful. It sounds like they're about to have to do some massive work in PR, and that's not anything he's looking forward to.

Bruce can't decide what he wants—there's very little Asian cuisine that he doesn't like—but Thor agrees to split two dishes with him, saying that he's never tried Thai before and this way he gets to try two things at once. His optimism is contagious, and Bruce is smiling more than he remembers doing in a long time.

They talk about different things, lighter topics, like books and music. Thor admits to wanting an iPod, and Bruce tells him that he'd better not say anything of the sort in front of Tony, who will promptly launch into a rant about "fucking Apple and their fucking knockoffs."

Thor asks how Bruce knows this, and when he admits it's from personal experience (Bruce had been talking about some of the specs he'd heard that their new tablet was supposed to have), they laugh.

When the conversation turns to childhoods, though, neither really wants to talk about it much, and they mutually agree to move onto another topic.

As they're wrapping up, Bruce gathers up the courage to ask, "Are you feeling better now? About balancing your responsibility to your brother and me?"

Thor takes him seriously and considers his answer carefully before reaching for Bruce's hand and reassuring the scientist, "Yes, I am. Loki has made admirable progress over the last couple days and he has told me in no uncertain terms that he is an adult and can take care of himself. It was...something that I needed to hear, regardless of how bluntly he spoke."

Bruce can imagine that. Loki doesn't seem like the type to mince words, even when he is talking to Thor, who seems to bring out the best in the younger demigod.

Rather than share his opinion on Loki's attitude, though, Bruce says, "I'm glad to hear that. I really am, Thor. I like you."

"And I like you."

They grin at each other like fools for a moment before the waiter brings their check, and Bruce glares Thor down when he tries to take it. He's had a good time, and besides, old habits die a little hard.

After they've left the restaurant, Thor is still pouting dramatically, and Bruce suggests, "I'm still a little hungry. Wanna get ice cream? I'll let you pay..."

Thor likes that idea, and they find a small frozen yogurt place on their walk back to the Tower. Bruce is amused to discover that the demigod likes toppings, especially rainbow sprinkles, whereas he prefers plain chocolate.

Stealing a bite of Bruce's ice cream, Thor pronounces it passable, though he says he prefers his own...concoction.

Bruce isn't quite brave enough to reciprocate, but when they've left and Thor bends down to kiss him, Bruce doesn't mind.

Happy, they resume their stroll back to the Tower, but of course, their calm cannot last.

As they turn the street, Bruce sees several professionally-dressed men and women with camera equipment and microphones standing on the sidewalk in front of the main entrance, and he leans up to whisper to Thor about them.

Thor lowers his voice and tells Bruce that he knows a side entrance, but that they are going to need to go to the other side of the Tower to get in.

Hopefully they'll be able to escape notice, and Bruce tucks himself closer into Thor's side, trying to look like an ordinary couple returning home from a date.

Thor wraps an arm around Bruce's waist and asks him in a measured voice what he thinks about the new restaurant they'd just tried.

Bruce answers that he'd liked it, and he would like to go back sometime, and they walk casually past the reporters.

Their deception almost works, too.

But as they turn towards the narrow alley Thor indicates in an undertone, the reporters notice something strange about the huge blond man and descend.

They're swarming around the alley entrance, calling things like, "Are you Thor, the Norse God of Thunder?" and "What is your opinion on the situation that happened here yesterday?"

And then someone notices Bruce, desperately trying to hide as Thor punches in the door code, and the questions change, get louder. "Who's your friend? A date, perhaps?" and "What does Mr. Stark think about all this?"

A daring few start to come closer, but the door beeps and opens, and Thor and Bruce tumble through, hurriedly shutting it behind them.

"Welcome back, sirs," JARVIS greets them. "I apologize for the disruption outside, but Agent Romanoff gave me strict orders that none of them were to be disturbed once they'd gone to bed."

Bruce takes Thor's hand again and runs a hand over his face tiredly. "Don't worry about it, JARVIS. Just make sure that you let them know tomorrow. What time is it?"

It's later than Bruce had thought, and he's tired. The reporters didn't really bother him, but he knows that they're going to have to deal with them in person sooner or later. He'd just prefer that wasn't tonight. He doesn't relinquish Thor's hand all the way up to his room, and when they get inside, he asks Thor to stay, toeing off his shoes and using Thor's arm for balance. Thor agrees.

They take turns brushing their teeth and crawl under the covers together, turning the lights out.

It feels nice, this mutual tiredness. There's always been something about couples sharing each other's space that has appealed to Bruce, and he likes this, a lot.

* * *

**I like hearing what y'all think. Ahem.**


	25. Worth Fighting For

**dysprositos, my awesome beta, is a massive help, who deals with me coming back to this weeks after it's been finished because continuity. Like that's important.**

**Without any further ado, here's the final chapter of Finite. *sniffles***

* * *

The next morning, Bruce wakes up to the sound of a female voice singing. Well, _shrilling_, rather.

Rolling over, he directs, "JARVIS, ugh, shut it off."

"I apologize, Dr. Banner, but your cell phone is not under my control."

"My whuh?" But Bruce slides out from under the covers and stumbles over to where he'd left his pants in a heap on the floor last night. He digs out the offending device and looks at the screen; Tony's calling—the caller id shows a picture of the engineer, grinning brightly.

_It's too early for this_. Bruce fumbles with his phone for a moment, still half-asleep before he finds the off button. With that settled, he crawls back into bed and tells JARVIS, "'M not awake. Tell Tony."

"Yes, Dr. Banner." JARVIS sounds faintly amused, but Bruce doesn't care. For that matter, he doesn't care why Tony, the night owl, is up at this hour.

Thor's warm but still mostly asleep, and Bruce pushes at his arm until he can slide in and under it, tucking himself back into the demigod's larger body.

When Thor stirs, Bruce says, "Go back to sleep, yeah?"

Obligingly, the demigod pulls Bruce closer but shuts his eyes again, tucking his face into Bruce's neck. That seems to be his favorite position, which is kind of strange and _oh, there it goes._ Bruce's brain has kicked into gear; there will be no going back to sleep for him, not now.

But he's comfortable, and Thor seems to be sleeping, so Bruce settles in to plan out what he's going to tell the others about him. About Hulk.

Obviously the radiation in his blood is a must. That poses a significant health threat to the others, and he's not going to endanger them. More ambiguous is the personality bleeding over the lines between them. But after he thinks about it, he decides that if he's going to come clean, he might as well do it all the way. It's time to trust his team.

He's just gotten everything he wants to say settled when there's a light knock on the door.

Bruce calls, "Come in," softly, and Steve takes a couple hesitant steps inside.

He smiles at the sight of Bruce tangled up in Thor, and then his grin becomes rueful as he says quietly, "You've gotta get up. We're going up to Tony's property in an hour and a half for a team practice session, and then this afternoon we've got to do something for the press. Sorry."

"That's okay, Steve," Bruce assures him, twisting up so that he's half-sitting under Thor's arm. "I was expecting this. Did JARVIS tell you about the paparazzi last night?"

"Yeah, he did. That's why we've pushed the press thing up to this afternoon; we were supposed to be doing it day after tomorrow. Um. About that. There's bound to be questions about if that was Thor last night, and if so, who was he with. You two need to come up with a story and then tell us so nobody says anything you don't want them to say. Okay?"

"We can do that. We'll be down in a bit, I suppose. Thank you, Steve."

The look the supersoldier casts at them is almost wistful, Bruce thinks, but he's not completely sure. Maybe someday he'll be able to properly interpret social cues.

But Thor is stirring, probably disturbed by the conversation (and Bruce's movement), and Bruce can understand Thor, at least. That's what's important now. What's important to him.

Thor rolls over and scrubs at his eyes with his fists, before focusing on Bruce. "Good morning."

"Morning, Thor." Bruce explains the situation, and Thor makes a face but rolls out of bed.

"Did he say anything about Loki?" Thor wants to know.

"No, he didn't. Are you worried about him participating?" Bruce asks because he knows that Thor's been worried about Loki since his magical net had drained him so badly the other day.

"I'm not, but thank you for asking. As long as he got a good night's sleep, Loki should be perfectly fine. I just wondered if he was awake yet, that's all."

"It's not a problem, Thor. That's what partners are for, isn't it?"

Thor's face lights up, and he's snatched Bruce up into a tight hug and kiss before Bruce really realizes what's happened.

They embrace for a few moments, but then Bruce wriggles free, "Steve said we're leaving in ninety minutes and I don't want to make everyone run late."

"You're right," Thor agrees.

They take turns in the bathroom and then Thor gives Bruce a quick kiss goodbye as he heads up to his room to change, taking Mjölnir with him from where it has been left off to the side since the night after Fury's attempted takeover.

Bruce still doesn't know what the ex-director's intentions were, and he's not sure that he _wants_ to know.

After he gets dressed, putting on a pair of athletic shorts under his black pants, he heads down to breakfast, his stomach rumbling.

Darcy and Natasha are cooking, calling out to each other playfully. As Bruce watches, Darcy goes to poke Natasha with the spoon she's wielding, and Natasha parries it with a spatula, exaggeratedly.

He's glad to see Darcy happy, and impulsively he slips up behind her and gives her a hug.

It earns him a whack from her spoon, but she's laughing and Bruce doesn't mind.

He joins Clint, Steve, and Tony at the table, and listens to them talk design upgrades Tony is thinking about making.

After a few minutes, Darcy and Natasha start dishing up breakfast, and Thor and Loki come in at the exact right moment, stepping over to help them carry the food over to the table.

Darcy apparently got to pick the menu, because they're eating Southwestern style breakfast, spicy and smelling wonderful, and there's grits.

Steve's never eaten grits, and Tony playfully rags on him until the supersoldier dutifully takes a bite.

Everyone enjoys each other's company, bantering back and forth, and when everyone else has finished, Bruce takes dish duty along with Clint.

That done, Steve says that they should meet down in the parking garage in ten, and everyone scatters to retrieve what they're going to need.

Bruce doesn't need anything—he's already dressed—so he follows Thor, who picks up Mjölnir from his bedroom and takes Bruce's hand with his free one.

They're the first ones down in the parking garage, but Clint, Loki, Darcy, and Natasha all arrive together, the assassins dressed in their uniforms, Loki and Darcy in street clothes.

There are crude patch jobs where the SHIELD badges used to be on Natasha and Clint's tops, and Bruce decides to offer his mending skills later to repair their suits, if they want. Or maybe Tony will just offer to make them new ones, sure that he can design them better than SHIELD.

Darcy seems edgy, but she sticks close to Loki, who is doing his best to project calm.

Steve arrives a minute later, in his uniform with the hood pushed back and his shield slung over a shoulder, and he asks, "Thor, Loki, shouldn't you be suited up?"

Thor answers for both of them, "We can get our armor easily when we have arrived; it's much easier to travel this way."

Steve seems skeptical but he shrugs, "Have it your way, then. Tony says he can't ride in the car with the suit and he doesn't want to use the suitcase armor, so he's gonna fly. Um, is there a car big enough for the rest of us, or do we need to take two?"

Natasha surveys the garage before stepping over and snagging a set of keys off the rack and tossing them at Steve, who catches them before they can fall to the floor. "That one," she indicates a gray SUV.

They dutifully troop over, stowing weaponry of all sorts in the trunk: Mjölnir, Steve's shield, Clint's quiver and bow case, and Natasha's bag.

Steve keeps the keys, and steps to the driver's door. Clint opens a door to the back seat and looks inside, shrugging and climbing inside. He clambers into the third row and calls, "Darcy, Frosty, you're skinny, get your butts back here!"

Loki rolls his eyes clearly at Clint's nickname but follows Darcy into the far back, settling into the bench seat.

Natasha swings into the passenger seat, so Bruce starts to step into the car, but he trips over the running board and Thor has to catch him.

After that Thor keeps a hand on Bruce's elbow until Bruce is seated and then Thor gets in, closing the door after him. He has to twist sideways and put his knees in the space between his chair and Bruce's in order to fit properly, but Thor doesn't seem to mind.

"Everybody buckled?" Steve asks, and when everyone confirms ("Jesus, mom, of course I'm fucking buckled," Clint snarks) that they are, he starts up the car.

It's quiet for a moment before the radio plays static and then Tony comments, "Lovely day for a road trip, isn't it?"

Natasha inquires, "You hacked the sound system, didn't you?"

"Sure did, Nat. Now, let's go! First left once you get out on the street, dude."

Steve says nothing, but Bruce is curious. "Dude?"

"I don't like being called Cap, and Tony's been trying to find a nickname for me for days. We've settled on 'dude' for now."

"Oh." _It's__ good that they're getting along_, Bruce thinks. Thor's hand finds his, and in the back seat Clint starts making gagging noises but it sounds like Darcy smacks him and he promptly shuts up.

Tony starts a running commentary of flying conditions and whatever else comes across his mind, but Bruce figures now is as good a time as any to talk about Hulk, but he waits to begin until Tony pauses for breath.

"Um. Before we do this...I think I should tell you guys some things about Hulk...about me."

Steve meets his gaze in the rearview mirror and offers a supportive nod; Natasha twists to look at him. Thor squeezes his hand.

"So. Um. My blood. It's radioactive. When I was working in a bottling plant in Brazil, I got cut and some of my blood got in a bottle of the soda the plant produced. The man who ingested it was hospitalized. That's how they found me then, tracking that. Anyway, if I get hurt, you need to take the appropriate precautions. It doesn't affect Thor, and it shouldn't bother Loki, either, but the rest of you need to be careful. And 'Hulk-ing out,'" he forms finger quotes around the words with his free hand, "makes me massively hungry. The action requires a huge amount of calories, which I usually can't spare, and then they are taken from fat deposits in my body. So when I wake up after, I really need to eat."

Thor's face twists unhappily in Bruce's peripheral vision, but he doesn't say anything.

Bruce sees Natasha nod to herself like this is confirming something that she already knew, and that doesn't surprise him. He knows that SHIELD's files on him are extensive.

"And the other thing. The big thing. There's not a line between us like I thought there was. I'm Hulk, Hulk's me, and that's something I've had to accept. He takes on parts of my personality; I take on some of his."

"Like the 'always angry' thing, Bruce?" Steve asks.

"Yeah, like that. I don't want to say that I can 'control' him because that implies that he's something bad, something that _needs_ to be contained, and I don't think that. Not anymore. He's a part of me, has been since I was a kid."

Darcy gasps a little when he says that, but if Bruce stops now then he'll never say this, and he needs to.

"I didn't have a good childhood. My...dad. He wasn't so great. And I always had this place, in my head, where I could go when things got...bad. And he was there. Protecting me."

Thor's hand tightens around Bruce's fingers, and he squeezes back, grateful for the support.

"So I think he, that is, _I_ am going to be okay now. I just had to connect some of the dots. So please, be cautious around him, but don't treat him like an enemy. Because he isn't. I'm not. Okay?"

"Sure thing, doc," Tony says over the radio. "Start poking you with big sticks ASAP. Got it."

Bruce laughs, long and deep. It feels _so good_ to have friends again. He'd thought he'd become accustomed to being a loner, to having no one around but himself, and maybe he had, but this, this here, this is worth having. Worth fighting for.

"Thank you for trusting us with this, Bruce," Steve responds seriously. "Does anyone else have anything that they'd like to say? Because I'm almost a ninety-year-old man in a twenty-something year-old body, and I'm scared of the cold. Of ice. And losing all my friends again."

Natasha raises her hand, "Re-programmed Russian assassin. Scared of killing any more kids. Of losing my friends."

Then, Clint. "Circus freak turned government asset. Scared of losing myself again. Being alone."

Tony. "Genius, billionaire, ex-playboy, philanthropist. Scared of dying. Of losing any more of my people."

Loki. "Frost Giant. Scared of more torture. Scared of losing my family again. Scared of never being adequate."

Thor. "Æsir. Scared of becoming the arrogant idiot I was. Of losing my family."

And finally, Darcy. "Ordinary human. Scared of getting close to someone only to lose them. Scared of bullies."

They all are silent for a few minutes after that until Tony has to give Steve directions for another turn, and then Darcy starts up a conversation with Loki and Clint about putting together a Monopoly tournament for fun when they get some down time.

Tony snarks at Steve for driving like an old man, and Steve retorts, "I _am_ an old man."

Natasha says, "He's got you there, Tony. No arguing that."

Thor leans over so that he can rest their entwined fingers on Bruce's leg, and Bruce enjoys the feeling of friendship for a moment. Then he remembers that he has a question for Darcy.

Fishing his phone out of his pocket, he twists, "Hey, Darce?"

"Yeah, doc?"

"My phone rang this morning, and I don't remember giving it any particular ringtone. Do you recognize this?"

He plays the snippet, and over the radio, Tony goes quiet.

Everyone listens for a moment before Darcy breaks into hysterical laughter, leaning on Loki's shoulder as she struggles for calm.

After a moment, she explains, "That's Katy Perry. The song's called 'E.T.' I'm curious, who was calling you?"

Tony makes a choked-off noise—that sounds rather a lot like an amused snort—and then the radio goes staticky as he disconnects.

"Gonna take a wild guess here and say it was Tony?" Darcy suggests.

"Yup."

"You gotta admit, Bruce, it's kinda funny. In a roundabout sort of way."

"Yeah, I suppose. Anyway, I'm changing it," Bruce says, and pokes around at the phone until he has.

Loki whispers to Darcy, "I don't get it."

"E.T. is a famous space alien from a movie. Really great one, actually; we'll have to watch it sometime... Oh, and the song's about being in love with an alien. That's the joke."

"Doesn't seem very funny to me," Loki replies, sounding a combination of haughty and confused.

"That's just 'cause you _are_ an alien, Frosty," Clint comments. "But I think Stark could've done better."

They keep on chatting about different things, getting to know each other better, and eventually Tony rejoins the conversation so that he can give Steve directions. Clint promptly lights into him about his 'shitty attempt at a joke,' and for once, Tony has no comeback.

* * *

Steve parks the car at the house, and Tony soars down to land next to the front door. He opens it, telling them that the cleaning staff should have been by earlier in the week.

Nobody moves to go inside, until Darcy steps forward. "I'll just go hang out in there, then. Don't kill each other. Oh, hey, Stark, you've got wifi, don't you?"

Tony retracts the faceplate of his armor so that he can look appropriately wounded, and Darcy rolls her eyes but heads into the house. Bruce is glad that she's going to be okay while they're busy.

Steve opens the back of the SUV and retrieves his shield, everyone else taking their belongings as well. Tony points to a path leading away from the house, and flips his faceplate down, taking to the sky.

Bruce links his hand with Thor's and follows Steve and Clint down the path, Natasha bringing up the rear with Loki.

After a few minutes of walking, the path leads into a huge open field, and Tony lands, clanking over to where they stand in a loose semi-circle.

"What's the plan, boss?" he asks Steve, who straightens into his 'team leader' persona.

"I figured that we could just demonstrate fighting styles for each other, and then maybe spar some. Just so we can get a better idea of how everyone else works."

Natasha asks, "You gonna participate or just watch, Steve?"

"I'll do both. But, um, this isn't a test or anything, I'm not grading you. Just fight how you usually would."

"No style points?" Clint whines.

Steve doesn't answer that, just says, "Then, uh, Loki, Thor, Bruce. Suit up."

The two Æsir take a few steps away and murmur, a bright flash accompanying their armor. Bruce seeks Thor's eyes for a moment and then, reassured, gets some distance between himself and the group, turning his back on them.

He pulls off his shirt and pants, tossing them over a bush, leaving him in a pair of athletic shorts, and closes his eyes, reaching for that well of possibility inside of himself.

Going completely slack for a second, he feels the momentum take over and then he's growing, being relegated to the passenger's seat inside his own brain.

* * *

Hulk doesn't see anyone to smash, and Banner doesn't _feel_ upset. Why is Hulk here?

Team looks at Hulk. All have big weapons, and Hulk doesn't like that. Are they going to smash Hulk? What is going on?

He takes a few steps back, and then hammer-man puts his hammer on the ground and comes over, his hands up.

"Hello, Hulk. Remember me?"

"Hammer-man."

Hammer-man smiles at Hulk, but it doesn't _seem_ like a mean smile. But even not-mean smiles can turn into mean smiles, so Hulk's still cautious.

There's a green place behind him, a safe place, and he wants to run.

But Banner stands up and pushes inside Hulk's head, and he listens to Banner, and Banner says that these are his _friends_, and Hulk is there so they can practice smashing together.

_Nobody smashes Hulk? _— 'No, they're _friends_.'

But Hulk doesn't know this word. So he asks hammer-man, still standing there and waiting for Hulk. "What is 'friends?'"

Metal-man rushes forward, and Hulk can't stop his instinctive reaction; he hurries into the safe-green place and waits.

Hammer-man shouts at metal-man ("Don't be stupid, Stark, he's _scared_!"), and then he turns back to where Hulk was, saying nice things, trying to get Hulk to come out.

Banner is pushing in his head and hammer-man is pulling with his words outside the safe-green place, and Hulk stumbles back outside.

Hammer-man relaxes a little and says, "'Friends' is the word for your companions who care about you. We are your friends, Hulk, and we'd like you to be our friend too."

Hulk has to know something, so he asks Banner, _Friends like family?_

Banner is happy, smiling-without-a-mouth at hammer-man, Hulk can feel that, and he tells Hulk, 'Yes, friends are like your family. But _good_ family, like Mom.'

Hulk nods. "Hammer-man Hulk's friends. Team Hulk's friends."

"That's good to hear, Hulk," hammer-man tells him, and then he looks at the others.

Hulk tenses up, but circle-man comes over carefully and looks at Hulk. "I'm Steve, Hulk. It's nice to meet you."

"Circle-man."

Circle-man laughs, but Hulk knows it's not a mean laugh. "Okay, close enough. Do you know everyone else?"

"Tell Hulk."

Circle-man points to metal-man, "Tony."

"Metal-man," Hulk corrects.

"Hey, there, Green Bean!" metal-man calls, but he doesn't try to come closer. That's good. He's loud and a little scary. But he's not scared of Hulk, and that's nice.

Circle-man continues, "Natasha—"

"Red-lady."

"Clint."

"Bird-man."

And then the last person steps forward and Hulk can see him for the first time. _Puny-god!_

Snorting, he hurries over to puny-god, hand raised to smash. But puny-god doesn't try to hurt Hulk. He doesn't tell Hulk that Hulk is just a man. Not like before.

Hulk leans over puny-god and smells him. _This is not puny-god!_

Hammer-man puts a hand on Hulk's arm carefully and Hulk asks him, "Who?"

"This is my brother, Loki. He looks like the man you, uh, smashed before, but he's not."

Hulk looks him up and down and decides, "Green-man. Green like Hulk."

Green-man laughs, a nice laugh, like Banner does in Hulk's head, and he offers his hand to Hulk.

_What to do?_

Banner gives him a picture of two hands together, and Hulk reaches out to make the picture again with green-man.

"Okay, Hulk," circle-man says, "we're going to have some practice. Do you think you can show us how you smash that rock?"

Hulk can. He smashes the rock good, and then gives a piece of it to hammer-man. Hammer-man uses his hammer and smashes, making many little rocks.

Circle-man hits a little rock with his circle, metal-man cuts it in half with his shiny-hand-thing, and then bird-man and red-lady use their shooty-things to smash the rock.

Green-man makes the rock sparkly and then it's gone.

Hulk turns in a circle, looking for it, "Where it go?"

Green-man steps forward and does it again, slower, and Hulk can see now. _Magic_. Like in the books Mom used to read.

They smash more rocks, and then circle-man and hammer-man start hitting each other.

"_NO!_" Hulk hits circle-man away and steps in front of hammer-man.

Circle-man gets up with bird-man's help, and he explains, "Hulk, that's called sparring. It's play-fighting."

"Pretend. He didn't hurt me," hammer-man says.

"Friends?" Hulk asks.

"Yes, friends. See?" hammer-man asks, and then he hits circle-man, but Hulk can see it's a nice hit, a little hit.

He hits the ground with his fist, and says, "Sparring."

They start again, and then everyone else does it too. But Hulk watches. Not playing.

This makes him sad, but then green-man finishes with red-lady and hammer-man touches Hulk's arm. "Would you like a turn?"

"Play with hammer-man?"

"Yes. What do you say? _Gentle _smashing."

"Good." Hulk pushes hammer-man, and hammer man throws his hammer at Hulk.

Hulk dodges, and this is fun.

Circle-man eventually says, "Stop," and they do.

"Fun," Hulk tells hammer-man.

"It was, yes. We'll play again sometime, okay?"

Hulk nods.

Metal-man flies down next to Hulk, and Hulk takes a step back, snorting, before he sees that it is metal-man who has come so close to him.

"Sorry, bro," metal-man says.

"Hulk sorry. Play again later?" he asks circle-man, who says that yes, they can. He'll spar with Hulk next time, and maybe metal-man, too.

Then Hulk closes his eyes and tells Banner he is tired now.

* * *

Bruce comes to flat on his back in the middle of a field that looks thoroughly smashed but all his teammates are still standing. He struggles to his feet and then Thor steps in front of him, shielding him from the others, and Bruce looks down. _Right, shredded shorts_.

After he's dressed, they go back to the house, collect Darcy ("Damn it, Stark, your wifi is fucking ancient! And _slow_!"), and head home, grabbing lunch on the way.

All in all, post-team bonding, things are looking up. But there's still work to be done, and no one thinks for a second that it's anywhere near completed.

Bruce and Thor have to decide what they're going to say about last night to the press, and Tony's promised Bruce and Darcy a look at the footage from that afternoon after the press thing. Something about Hulk's reaction to Loki being simultaneously the most hilarious and terrifying thing ever. Bruce needs to talk to Tony, too, about testing to see if he'll Hulk-out during sex. That will be a fun conversation, for sure.

And their press meeting is not going to be the smoothest sailing in the world. There's still going to be bumps in the road, like reintroducing Loki to the world as a good guy. And nobody's completely healed yet. Trust still needs to be built.

But Bruce and Thor have each other now. They've still got things to work out, things that need smoothing over, but they've laid the foundations.

Besides, this is no longer just their story to tell. They're but one part of a whole.

**END ****— ****PART I.**

* * *

**Well, hell, that's over now. Few things, my lovely readers.**

**1. This story would have gotten nowhere without dysprositos. She's a terrific beta, and a really great friend too. Thank you, beta buddy.**

**2. Thank you to all my readers. I love hearing from you, and knowing that you're there is always awesome. I appreciate the feedback and support I've gotten. Starting off writing a rarepair, I didn't know that I would find an audience, but I have, and that's damn awesome.**

**3. Now that all of that is out of the way, I should probably say something about the first sequel, yes? _Fusion_ is a Natasha/Tony story, and now completed!**

**So, one last time, anyone got anything to say?**


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